Business Journal July 2013
Inspire, Inform & Educate
72st Edition
Got Business? Or Business Got You?
INSIDE
Affordable Healthcare Open Enrollment: A Blueprint for Small Business Part 1 By Cynthia Nevels
The topic of healthcare is a Texas-size problem and on October 1, 2013 the elephant in the room will be unleashed. PAGE 8
Four GIANT Steps Toward DEBT FREEDOM! By Dr. D. L. Jones “I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits, and the past deeds of my life have charted a course that now threatens to imprison my future.”
Carla Lane on Top of Her Business Game!
PAGE 11
A Caveman’s Guide to Facebook Advertising By Jen Shehan If you’re looking to spice up your Facebook ads, you need look no further than what would have caught the eye of primitive man. PAGE 14
MR.D-MARS, Dallas Jones and Team at the MLB Diversity Business Summit
Western Area Links Visit HISD’s Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy
PAGE 22
One More Time.. By Thecia Jenkins “I haven’t failed. I’ve identified 10,000 ways this doesn’t work.” ~ Thomas Edison.” PAGE 25
PAGE 23
“A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.” -President Barack Obama
July 2013
Journal Behind The
SR. PUBLISHER Keith J. Davis, Sr.
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Kevin Davis VICE PRESIDENT Kim Floyd MANAGING EDITOR Sharon Jenkins OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Johnny Ray Davis, Jr. ACCOUNTING MANAGER Eugenie Doualla SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE C.T. Foster Eric D. Goodwine S. Angela White
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Publisher’s Message
Keith J. Davis, Sr.
“Got Business? Or Business Got You?” is our theme for this month’s journal. We are in the middle of the business cycle
and this pertinent question needs to be answered. Are you at the halfway point in meeting your professional goals for 2013? It’s time to do a check-up from the business neck up. This issue will feature editorials that will assist you in that process. As always again, thank you for your continued support of d-mars.com. When you support d-mars.com, you are supporting more than just our company; you are supporting the communities in which we live and work. Working together, we can succeed in making positive things happen.
CONTENTS
Carla Lane on Top of Her Business Game! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Take Control of Your Career! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Driven by Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Affordable Healthcare Open Enrollment: A Blueprint for Small Business Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Counterintuitive Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
PHOTOGRAPHY
Four Giant STEPS Toward Debt FREEDOM! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
L.C. Poullard Grady Carter Tony Gaines
Disability Income Insurance for New Professionals- Who Needs It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR Andrea Hennekes LAYOUT & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kevin Wright DISTRIBUTION Booker T. Davis, Jr. Rockie Hayden CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sharon C. Jenkins Christina R Grochett Alvin E. Terry, MBA Cynthia Nevels Noel Pinnock Lonnie Mathews Mena Freeman Kim Kirmmse Toth Peter Pike Nancy Wurtzel Jen Shehan Errol D. Allen Rod “Storyteller” White Harold “Ahmad” Steele, CMPS Gene Bolmarcich Bryan Romelfanger Kate Marsden Thecia Jenkins Elbert Bruna Charles Wiliams Terry Green Ijeoma “EeJay” Agada Sarah Carter Leigh Daw Tom Bordon Trenette Wilson E’brandia L. Perry Shanedria Wagner Joni Sterling Dr. Wendy Johnson
A Caveman’s Guide to Facebook Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Getting Started with Your Website: What You Need to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Blogging Tips: Five Ways to Set Your Blog on Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 No One is Signing Up for My Stuff! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6 Characteristics of Great Customer Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 An Excerpt from The Power of Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 How Small Changes Make a BIG Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 MLB Diversity Business Summit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Western Area Links Visit HISD’s Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Become Your Own Personal CFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Go the Extra Mile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 One More Time... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Important Answers You Need to Have to Build a Successful Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5 Sales Training Tips for Targeting Powerful People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Business Success Tips - Will the Real Business Owners Please Stand Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5 Ingredients for Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Business Blogging Tips: Top 10 Topics to Blog About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Out with the Job In with the Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 A Couple of Awesome Details of Social Network Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6 Useful TIps for Reducing Work Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 7 Steps to Rebounding After Blowing the Big Deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Home Office Deduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 TIme for a Check Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 How to Choose a Trademark Attorney and Register Your Trademark to Logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Fraser Networking Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 I Say Tomayto; You Say Tomahto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
MR. D-MARS Tip of the Month “The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.” Thomas Edison
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July 2013
Carla Lane on Top of Her Business Game!
By Sharon C. Jenkins
C
arla Lane is President and CEO of LaneStaffing. LaneStaffing is the largest minority woman owned employment solution provider in the southwest. Carla Lane has pioneered one of the largest and most successful minority owned staffing companies in the U.S. southern region. LaneStaffing, Inc. is headquartered in Houston and delivers employment, human resource and business solutions across North America. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the LaneStaffing family of companies offers a broad suite of proven services to give its clientele a winning edge. Its service lines include: recruiting, screening and testing, temporary placement, job readiness training, payroll and consulting. Lane’s overall business strategy is, “take care of the people and the bottom line will grow.” Over the years, she has expanded the company’s footprint by seven states and increased its client base of Fortune 100 and 200 clients to become a leader in government contracting. LaneStaffing is a comprehensive employment-solution provider delivering the services of recruiting, screening and testing, temporary placement, job readiness training, payroll and consulting to the market.
About Carla Lane Lane was hired as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of DiverseStaff in 2003, where she was responsible for the company’s overall financial strategy and financial processes as well as branch operations in Houston, Texas. She purchased the brand name in 2006, since that time she has transformed its business strategy, adding new higher-margin business lines and increasing community involvement. In 2008, Lane expanded the service offerings and rebranded the firm “LaneStaffing”. Lane’s overall business strategy is “take
care of the people and the bottom line will grow”. A firm believer of supplier diversity with “…high goals with high standards intact.” she oversaw the implementation of an enterprise-wide technology system to allow the firm to realize greater operating efficiencies and profitability improvements. Allowing the firm to bid and win business in markets in which technology would have previously limited its ability to bid and win. Under Lane’s leadership, LaneStaffing has expanded the footprint of the organization by seven states and expanded its client base of Fortune 100 and 200 clients and has become a leader in government contracting. Lane began working in the staffing industry while attending the University of Houston as an accounting student. In 1993, she became the first staff member of BestStaff Services, formally the largest minority owned staffing firm in the South. She worked as an accounting clerk until completing her education at the University of Houston and accepting a full time position as Accounting Manager in 1996. She left BestStaff as Vice President of Accounting and Finance and was responsible for accounting operations in fifteen (15) states. She is an American Staffing Association, Certified Staffing Professional. Known as a strong proponent of job training, she actively supports workforce development initiatives. Lane annually hosts a Job Fair in partnership with the Houston Black Expo that connects hundreds of job seekers with government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and small businesses. In 2007, she received the Pinnacle Award, the highest award for entrepreneurial excellence by the Houston Citizen’s Chamber of Commerce. Lane was named one of the “25 Top Women in Houston” by Rolling Out Magazine in 2008, and awarded the 2008 Strategic Teaming Award by Houston Minority Business Council, for her work with
“teaming” with other minority owned organizations to provide quality solutions to her clients. She also was awarded the Emerging Ten Award by the Houston Minority Business Council, in 2008. The firm was named one of the Top 500 African American owned Companies in the US and one of the Top 100 Woman owned firms in Texas by DiversityBusiness.com in 2009, 2010 and 2011. She also was awarded the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Houston. Ms Lane Was listed as one of 40 distinguished Houston area business leaders under 40 (40 under 40) by Houston Business Journal in 2009. Lane was named one of the 2010 Minority Achievers by the YMCA, and the 2010 Vanguard Award by Texas Business Alliance. Lane serves on the board of the Insti-
member and recipient of the GWDC Leadership Award 2012. Lane will also chair the Greater Houston Black Chamber’s upcoming Pinnacle Awards. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., National Presidents Organization, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, National Association of Female Executives, American Staffing Association, Texas Association of Staffing, and the National Human Resource Association.
tute for Family Renewal, and the Family Press. She is a lecturer with the Career and Education Seminar held annually in her hometown of Dallas, Texas. She also serves on the Greater Houston Black Chamber and the Texas Business Alliance’s Advisory Board. Lane also writes two monthly columns, “The Right Lane” and “Ask Carla” for several Business Journals. She was recently made one of two of the first female members of the Across the Track Pac, a political action committee comprised of the owners of Houston’s largest African American owned businesses, a board member of the Greater Houston Black Chamber, Greater Southwest Dallas Chamber Advisory Board
ship with the Houston Area Urban League (HAUL) who also plays a significant role in helping individuals enter the economic and social mainstream. The new downtown presence gives LaneStaffing greater accessibility to a broader Houston audience and supplements LaneStaffing’s North Houston site and its corporate office located at 2211 Norfolk, Suite 150, Houston, TX 77098, in addition to its offices in Dallas, Port Arthur, Beaumont and Orlando. “The LaneStaffing and HAUL partnership creates opportunities to strengthen families,” stated Judson W. Robinson, III, president and chief executive officer
LaneStaffing and HAUL Through the leadership and vision of Lane, the company has been instrumental in helping families become economically self-reliant through her forte in recruitment, training and job placement. To house additional resources aimed at job readiness, Lane initiated a partner-
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July 2013 METRO Call Center Services Manager Antonette Davis. “Because of LaneStaffing’s process of training and preparing candidates combined with our development program, 20 percent of our Call Center staff from LaneStaffing become regular, full time employees.” LaneStaffing @ HAUL is a heartfelt service of Lane. Over the years as the LaneStaffing CEO, Lane has had a genuine care to help single mothers achieve confidence and stability through gainful employment. For decades, the number of single-parent families has climbed higher, with the majority of these households led by women. According to U.S. Census Bureau, the number of single-parent families has more than doubled since 1960. In some U.S. communities, the majority of families are led by a single mother. “Being a single mother at one time, I
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understand the many challenges women face every day caring for the family,” said Lane. “Furthermore, if a single mother is unemployed and lacks the skills sets to meet today’s fast-past era of technology, finding meaningful employment is that much more difficult. LaneStaffing @ HAUL enables us to meet a need of a clientele that we may not always have access to. Together with HAUL, we are able to assist with making a real difference in the lives of families. Finding employment and helping to stabilize a family is meaningful. It means that a mother can put dinner on the table, keep the lights on and send a child to school. Ultimately, employment can change the trajectory of generations from poverty to prosperity.” The service hours of LaneStaffing @ HAUL are 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, visit the LaneStaffing @ HAUL page under the division section of www.lanestaff.com or call 832-460-3321.
of HAUL. “The program meets people where they are. HAUL has always provided programs to support the family such as housing assistance, health and wellness resources, transportation vouchers and job-readiness training. Now, the new LaneStaffing partnership enables us to focus intentionally on placement as well as training. Our services complement each other in a more powerful way and provide our supporters with a higher level of accountability. I am delighted with the launch of LaneStaffing @ HAUL. These types of unconventional partnerships help further our mission to help families become empowered and economically secure.” The new partnership is in line with the City of Houston’s vision of increasing the number of employed citizens. “LaneStaffing and its vision to create jobs for our city aligns with Mayor Parker’s vision to identify ways to create job opportunities for the citizens of Houston,” said Carlecia D. Wright, director of the Mayor’s Office of Business Opportunity. “LaneStaffing’s CEO Carla Lane is a visionary. Her company is a good example of a certified company doing quality business and creating value for the City of Houston.” Lane’s clientele appreciates her track record for preparing individuals for the workforce and finding them viable career opportunities. “LaneStaffing and METRO have worked together for many years to staff our Call Center,” echoed
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6.
July 2013
Take Control of Your Career!
By Christina R Grochett Contributing Writer
T
hroughout my career, I’ve given a lot of advice to students, prospective students and job seekers, but when it comes to “career magic,” there are various factors that can help open and close doors quickly when searching for that dream career. Whether a candidate is not qualified, is overqualified or does not possess valuable skills necessary to succeed, it becomes apparent that there is a “skills gap” with today’s job seekers. Unemployment continues to be a huge problem in the U.S. Many Americans want to get back into the workforce, take their careers to the next level or start a new career, but some simply do not have the skills, competencies or education required to fill the more than three million available jobs in America today. With this being said, there are jobs available in just about every industry and market across the U.S., but not everyone is on the same playing field when it comes to being qualified to fill these
positions. That is where education comes into play. An effective career plan starts even before a student has taken their first college course. University of Phoenix is leading the way in preparing students for today’s competitive job market by providing educational programs and career resources to students every step of the way. With the right curriculum and career services, students can develop the skills employers are looking for throughout their academic journey. Phoenix Career Services, which includes innovative career interest and job market research tools as well as oneon-one interaction with advisors, helps prospective and current students make informed decisions regarding the degree program they choose by surveying their interests first and cross referencing them with job openings and employment activity in their specific geographic area. I believe that one of the biggest challenges prospective students and students face today is identifying the career and degree that fits their interests, skills
and passions. Students and job seekers who have a better idea what career they want, may focus more on completing their education and developing the skills needed by today’s employers. To learn more about how you can connect education to a future career path, visit www.phoenix.edu/careerservices. University of Phoenix Houston Campus is hosting a Career Symposium on August 7 to provide attendees insight into the local Houston job market, and provide them workshops to help increase their marketability and connect with hiring employers. To learn more, call 713-465-9966.
Christina Robinson Grochett is the Campus Director of University of Phoenix Houston Campus. An accomplished leader and champion of higher learning, she was selected as one of the 2010 Women of Influence by Houston Woman Magazine, one of the Top 10 business women by the American Business Women’s Association in 2008 and a Cambridge Who’s Who 2011 VIP for the Education Industry. Under her leadership, the Houston Campus was selected as a 2009, 2010 and 2011 Best Place to Work by The Houston Business Journal and was awarded with the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Alfred P. Sloan Awards from the City of Houston for Workplace Flexibility and Innovation.
Driven by Motivation
By Alvin E. Terry, MBA Contributing Writer
M
otivation is described as that inner urge that prompts a person to action with a sense of purpose. Where does your motivation stem from? Who motivates the Motivator? This is a subject that can take on many directions; however, my focus today is on business. The internal motivation that you have experienced stems from a variety of places when starting your business or if you have been contemplating starting your own business. You may have decided at an early age that you want to be your own boss. You may be in a position to where you are currently working in a family business and one day you will be the manager or owner of that business, that’s motivation. You may have decided at a later stage in life that in your heart of hearts you must follow your passion and start your own business and control your destiny. You may have been a casualty of a downturn of the economy, and have experienced downsizing, layoffs, acquisitions, mergers, company relocations, outsourcing to overseas operations and/or foreign companies. Your company may have experienced increased competition in the marketplace where they are no longer competitive. Technology may have outpaced your company’s present capacity to compete in a local economy or global economy.
In any case these are all motivating factors. The most important thing to remember and embrace is that you are not alone in your decisions. You are never alone in being able to garner the support that you need to help guide you through the process of doubt, confusion and concerns that are often associated with starting your own business. Free resources abound. Start with Score Houston.org and SBA.gov. This is the best starting point for anyone, whether you are a startup business, already in business or are thinking of going into business. You must do your homework first. You must navigate through both of these systems in order to obtain a clearer picture of where you would like to go. These resources will put you on a path to developing or upgrading your present business plan. This plan will serve as your roadmap to future success in your endeavors and keep you own track. You may have other motivating factors that I have not touched on but, most importantly, the message in this article is for you to focus on what is your individual motivating factor because that will lead you to your destiny in business. This may also be family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, newspaper articles, business journals, TV Specials, commercials, magazines, Radio Talk Shows, or just that voice in your head that you have received through Divine guidance. Inspiration and motivation can come from a variety of communication channels and sources. The most important thing is to not just hear, but to listen to all of the many forms of communications that can inspire you and motivate you on your journey. You may reach Alvin E. Terry, MBA, at Alvin. Terry@ rocketmail.com or by cell at 713-392-9107
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July 2013
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July 2013
Affordable Healthcare Open Enrollment: A Blueprint for Small Business Part 1
By Cynthia Nevels Contributing Writer
T
he topic of healthcare is a Texas-size problem and on October 1, 2013 the elephant in the room will be unleashed. Open enrollment starts October 1, 2013 in the United States and the marketplace is still working out the logistics on how the process will work. But that should not stop business owners, the self-employed and heads-of-households from creating their plan and conducting their research now. Small business owners have been the focus of numerous discussions on healthcare for several years now. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or commonly known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The new law will make a difference in the lives of small business owners, their employees and families all over the country. Ask any small business owner you know, “Do you have health insurance?” You will be surprised to learn most entrepreneurs or local employers who are self-employed, who do not have a day job, are in fact uninsured. That includes tech workers, professors to landscapers. “Houston’s labor force fills 2.7 million jobs and counting. Houston ranks second in employment growth rate and fourth in nominal employment growth among the 10 most populous metro areas in the U.S. In 2006, the Houston metropolitan area ranked first in Texas and third in the U.S. within the category of “Best Places for Business and Careers” by Forbes magazine. Nearly 80% of businesses in Dallas are classified as small businesses, employing nearly 40% of the City’s workforce.”
The common misconception on the street is that this law will mandate coverage for all and may increase the costs for small businesses to operate. The fact is employers are not required to provide employee coverage under this law. Beginning in 2014 employers with 50 or more full-time employees that do not offer affordable health care coverage may be required to pay an assessment or fee but there is another option available. Some call this a silent tax for small businesses. However, the option to enroll in healthcare coverage is and can be left up to the individual. Entrepreneurs and individuals can access the Healthcare Marketplace in order to learn more about the enrollment process by visiting www.healthcare.gov/marketplace. Individuals and employers can enroll now to find answers regarding affordable healthcare options. Latina business owners can also access www.cuidadoDeSalud.gov for details in Spanish. Groups like Be Covered Texas (www.becoveredtexas.org) are working to share this news with families across Texas utilizing information supplied by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. Be Covered Texas is working to eliminate confusion and host event s to explain what coverage is available and how enrollment will work. However, if you are a business owner or employer with 50 or more employees you will not find a great deal of assistance with your questions just yet. I learned this information is still be created by the federal government and its lead agencies. One of those organizations is the Internal Revenue Service, which will have a hand in creating rules for tax credits and tax penalties. Whether you are a small organization or a large company, there is important information you will need to participate in this plan. Employers are required to provide employees with a standard Summary of Benefits and Coverage Form or SBC Form that will explain what the plan covers and the costs. This form will help employees better understand and assess their health care options. The Department of Labor provides a sample of a completed SBC Form online. Business owners with 50 or more employees should be aware that penalties may be imposed for non-compliance. If you have less than 50 employees this penalty will not assessed to your company. Open enrollment begins October 1, 2013 for 2014 coverage and can be accessed via the competitive health insurance marketplaces. Marketplace is a public website or a user friendly word used as an alternative to exchange. The marketplace can be used by individuals and small businesses to access information about plans and enroll. These individual health insurance marketplaces will offer a choice of four levels of benefit packages that differ by costs. All details of ACA are state specific so remember to specify your state when inquiring about how the act will impact you.
In 2012, Aetna teamed up with the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to implement a partnership to offer low-cost individual health insurance products. We called Aetna to find out if they will participate in the federal marketplace. Matt Wiggin, media representative for Aetna advised, “The Company [Aetna] has submitted applications in 14 states and is currently in the review process.” Wiggin could not answer if Texas is one of those states and with open enrollment starting in three months we are curious to see what other providers will make the deadline to offer approved products and in which states. The federal agencies involved in overseeing and supporting the program include both private and federal partners. The lead agency will be the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Medicaid/ Medicare Services which will implement the insurance plans and manage enrollment. The United States Small Business
Administration and United States Housing and Urban Development regional offices are offering outreach support to educate the small business population and individuals. The Internal Revenue Service is charged with managing the tax credits and assessments, albeit a source from the Internal Revenue Service tells me this project has been placed in the parking lot while the executives manage the current scandal. Some private players have used technology in innovative ways to share information for preparing Americans for the rollout, such as organizations like Be Covered Texas (www.becoveredtexas. org) and The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). KFF provides news, research, and analysis of healthcare reform while continuing to partner with major media companies and multimedia communication leaders to provide health care news to tens of millions of people annually. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas contributes content to BeCoveredTexas. org, as a measure to support the Affordable Healthcare initiative and get Texans enrolled. BeCoveredTexas.org provides a snapshot of the new healthcare law, how it affects you, as well as, a toll-free number for individuals to call for additional assistance. Sign-up at BeCoveredTexas.Org to receive regular updates and stay informed on changes in the program. This is just the beginning of much to come regarding this new initiative for small business owners, their employees
and uninsured American families. If you are interested in learning more Mountain View College is hosting a free Affordable Healthcare Forum on August 1, 2013 at 10:00 AM CST. Visit www.mountainviewcollege.edu to learn more or register at http://mvcewd.ticketleap.com/ affordablehealthcare. Be sure to read my upcoming Part 2 article Blueprint for Uninsured Workers. To learn more listen to my latest episode on demand entitled Obamacare: What does it really mean for small business? on www.disruptnews. com. “Phase one of tax credits for tax years 2010 – 2013 provide small employers with a tax credit of up to 35% of the employer’s contribution toward the employee’s health insurance premium if the employer contributes at least 50% of the total premium cost or 50% of a benchmark premium. The full credit will be available to employers with 10 or fewer employees and average wages of less than $25,000. The credit phases out as firm size and average wage increases. The Small Business Healthcare Options Program (SHOP) is available now to simplify the process of coverage enrollment. (Access either of the links above to access SHOP.) The SHOP Marketplace will allow you to control coverage options, amount paid towards employee plans and compare plans online to determine which plan works best for you. Beginning in 2014, the small business health care tax credit will be available to business owners who enroll via SHOP. In 2014, both for-profit and nonprofit small businesses may be eligible to receive a tax credit. The for-profit tax credit is worth up to 50% of your contribution toward the employee premium costs and up to 35% for non-profit or taxexempt employers. This credit will lower the costs for providing health coverage.” Resources • Be Covered Texas Toll-Free Number 1-866-427-7492 (M-F 8 am to 5 pm CT) • Healthare.gov • The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation http://kff.org/health-reform/fact-sheet/ summary-of-new-health-reform-law/
About the Author: Cynthia E. Nevels is a certified financial educator and certified entrepreneurship adjunct professor. Cynthia is a Senior Partner with Integrality Consulting (www.integrality.us), a business management, technology and marketing consulting firm in Dallas and Houston. She’s the host of the popular business and technology radio program The C-Radio Show (http://www.thecradioshow. com/) that now has a new national brand, Disruptive View at www.disruptnews.com. She’s been featured in Black Enterprise Magazine, Fast Company Magazine, Dallas Morning News and The Boston Globe.
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July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Counterintuitive Thinking By Noel Pinnock Contributing Writer
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postle Paul encourages us to believe that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us in the Book of Philippians (4:13 NKJV). This is a universal scripture that many recite each day in their daily devotions or meditations; however, many of us fail to really implement the work this mega pithy establishes in our daily lives. Oftentimes, we find ourselves de-energized, burned out, confused, and weary because we either don’t really believe we can do all things… or…we make the fatal assumption that our situation is to large or complex to surmount. Okay, let me guess….you are probably thinking, what can Noel tell me, now, that I haven’t already heard or read? Well, it gives me great pleasure to provide you with some inspiring words that have been composed and arranged to challenge your thinking as well as establish a symphonic framework that will
help you think outside of this proverbial “box” and dispel any thoughts of impossibility, this is counterintuitive for a great deal of people. Therefore, I will dissect it, one chunk at a time. First, in order to see pass the impossible; you have to possess an unyielding willingness to see yourself at the desire goal or outcome. The unyielding willingness is characterized by many as having faith. Faith is not a noun but a verb…it is not somebody but it is doing something! Having faith requires kinetic energy both in your brain and in your body because faith without works is dead. In the vernacular, faith sees the invincible (goal or outcome)…believes in the incredible (neurological response)…and receives the impossible (action oriented momentum). Second, recognize that you are no better than anyone else and no one else is better than you. This profound statement enabled me to know without any uncertain terms that we all are truly equal, and in that equality no one has accomplished anything that cannot be duplicated or improved upon. Careful now, there is a defining line between confidence and arrogance. I believe we define that line in every business venture, sales pitch, or conversation we share with prospects, friends, and family members.
You see, it wasn’t until I accepted my inadequacies that I was able to embrace God’s all sufficient grace, which provided the confidence required to produce the faith that water the seed Gerry planted in my life. So, I offer you the same seed of encouragement. Finally, there should not be any mountain too high or valley too low that should keep YOU from achieving that next level in your life and career. So, you have had some difficult times. Maybe your parents are divorced or maybe you are pregnant or maybe the bank rejected your loan or maybe the economy caused your market shares to dip or maybe there are just too many maybes to consider. The captain of my faith and the master of my soul, Jesus Christ, once said, commit our works to the Lord and our plans will succeed. Know that the only thing that stops many of us from securing that competitive promotional opportunity, writing the next New York Times® best-selling novel, obtaining that long-awaited degree, jump-starting the childhood business venture or rebounding from a broken relationship lies in the power of one, YOU! As Smokey the Bear once said, “Only you can prevent forest fires!” Yeah, the forest fires in your life and career can truly stifle your ability to survive and,
more importantly, thrive. English Poet, William Ernest Henley, wrote in his 1888 poem, Invictus, the following: OUT of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.
The only question that remains is…who is the master of your fate and the captain of your soul? Careful, don’t answer right away…think about it but get at it!
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
For more stories go to dmars.com
July 2013
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Four GIANT Steps Toward DEBT FREEDOM!
By Lonnie Mathews Contributing Writer
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n his book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, inspirational author Og Mandino states, “I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits, and the past deeds of my life have charted a course that now threatens to imprison my future.” What is Mandino really saying? Well, he is referring to being in debt. If you are like most people, this is the time of year when you realize that you might have over done things a bit during the Holiday season. As Mandino states, you may easily accumulate an excessive amount of debt if you have developed a habit of using debt on a regular basis. My wife and I are no strangers to being in over our heads when it comes to debt. In the past, we never thought much about debt and were just living the normal American dream. An excessive amount of debt causes problems in other areas of your life. For example, having to constantly make debt payments will keep you from saving money long term. Learning to manage and ultimately get rid of debt is the cornerstone to a successful plan. If you have reached the point where you are sick and tired of being sick and tired of debt then continue reading for a few tips that could lead you into debt freedom. 1. Know Where You Are – In order to get out of debt, you must be honest with yourself about how much you really owe. The first thing that you should do is sit down and make a list of everyone you owe. This includes your car loan, credit cards, student loans, personal loans, and mortgage. Include the amount you owe, the interest rate, and the minimum payment due. Most people only “guesstimate” how much they owe. Making a list will force you to face the reality of how much you truly owe. This is the most critical and important step to becoming debt free. You may not like the number that you see when you list your debts, but this could give you the motivation that you need to get started. When my wife and I started on the road to debt freedom, we were surprised to see that we owed close to $70,000 which DID NOT include our mortgage. 2. Develop a Strategy – Develop a plan to get out of debt. The reason that your debt level has not decreased over the years is because you never came up with a plan to reduce your debt. You should also take this opportunity to motivate everyone in your household to get out of debt.
Developing your plan includes taking a good look at your current expenses to see where you can make cuts. By reducing your expenses, you should be able to come up with a few hundred dollars to apply towards getting out of debt each month. The only other option is to increase your income. Reducing your spending is the best option, since increasing your income is not an easy task. 3. Focus on One Debt at a Time – One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to get out of debt is trying to do too many things at once. To do something well you must embrace the power of focus. Now that you have listed your debts and reduced your spending, take the money that has been saved and apply it towards reducing debt. There are many schools of thought on how to get out of debt such as pay off the highest interest rate etc. However, my personal philosophy is that you need to see progress early in the process. This is why it is important to choose the debt with the lowest balance and focus on it until you have paid it off. You need to have some small victories early on in the process to stay motivated to continue. Once you have paid off a debt, you can use the available money to continue the process until all of your debt is gone. For more information on how to develop a comprehensive plan to get out of debt, I recommend a book I have written titled Spend Everything: An Inspirational Guide to Money Management.
4. Commit, Commit, Commit – The last step toward debt freedom is that you need to develop a sense of commitment. Most individuals are in love with the idea of being out of debt but are not willing to commit to a plan. It is easy to justify purchasing something on credit because you feel like you “need it” when in reality you don’t. To get out of debt, you have to make the commitment that you will not make any more purchases using credit. Lastly, you have to make the commitment to use any extra money that comes into your life to help reduce debt. Let’s face it, if getting out of debt was
easy or half as fun as getting into debt is then you would not be reading this article. Getting out of debt takes time and patience; you can be totally debt free in 3 to 5 years depending on the amount you start with. The question is: Are you willing to take the necessary steps to free yourself from the burdens of past decisions that you made in order to obligate your future income? Lonnie R. Mathews wrote this article for the Who's Minding Your Money blog. Lonnie is an author and speaker in the area of personal finance. To learn more about Lonnie or to contact him visit www. lonniemathews.com
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Disability Income Insurance for New Professionals – Who Needs It?
By Mena Freeman Contributing Writer
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imply stated, you do. In fact, now is the best time to protect your income.
Your ability to earn an income is your most valuable asset and the foundation of any financial strategy. As a professional at the beginning of your career, you may already be thinking about future goals – owning a home, traveling, raising a family and accumulating assets. Your income makes these things possible. It pays your basic expenses and enables you to build wealth for the future. But what if an injury or illness prevented you from being able to work? In a recent survey only 1% of employees felt they had a chance of becoming disabled during their working years , but in reality almost one-third of Americans entering the work force today (3 in 10) will become disabled before they retire.2 Unfortunately, most people don’t fully appreciate the value of personal disability insurance until it’s too late. That untimely realization can be financially devastating.
Learn the Lingo The right individual disability income insurance (DI) policy can help you keep your household going, even if you suffer a long-term disability. But before you go shopping for a DI policy, you need to know what features to look for—and the language the insurance industry uses to describe them. The following terms are part of the language describing highquality policies, and are what you should look for to get coverage you can count on:
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Non-cancellable: To avoid the possibility of losing your coverage just when you need it most, choose a policy that’s non-cancellable and guaranteed renewable to age 65—with premiums also guaranStaying Ahead of the Curve teed until age 65. With group or First, assess your financial position and association group coverage, you think about what you spend your income run the risk of being dropped and on. How would you cover your expenses left unprotected at a time in your if you were no longer able to work? life when, due to your age or to a Next, if you belong to a group disability plan, check the coverage. Will you change in your medical condition, it would be very difficult to qualify receive benefits if you’re unable to work in your own occupation, or must you for coverage from another providbe unable to work at any job to receive er. payments? Does your policy cover you if you are only partially disabled? Do you have the power to keep it in effect, or does your employer hold all the cards? If you leave your position, will you still have coverage? Group disability coverage is better than no coverage, but individual disability coverage is far better, particularly if it allows you to customize the coverage to match your needs. For example, if you’re just beginning your career and anticipate that your income will rise dramatically, you should consider purchasing a future increase option rider. Build in the option to purchase additional coverage as your earnings increase—without worrying whether a change in your health will negatively affect your coverage.
are unable to perform the duties of your own occupation, even if you are able to work successfully in another occupation, while others pay only if you cannot work at all.
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Residual Disability coverage: Through a rider, a good individual DI plan can provide you with protection against the income loss you may suffer as a result of partial (residual) disability—even if you have never suffered a period of total disability. • A choice of “riders”: Riders offer optional additional coverage such as an annual Future Increase Option which helps protect a growing income, like yours, by allowing the purchase of additional coverage each year without additional medical underwriting. Other examples
include Automatic Benefit Enhancements and Cost of Living Adjustments, or “COLA.” Now is the Time Cost of coverage is based on your age at the time a policy is issued. Generally, the younger you are, the lower the premium. Insuring your income is as basic to your financial security as insuring your life, your health, your home or your car. It’s important to take immediate steps to protect your livelihood by scheduling time with your financial advisor or insurance representative to discuss individual disability insurance. Do it today and feel better about tomorrow. Prepared by Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Pittsfield, MA.
• Conditionally renewable for life: Although premiums may increase after age 65, your policy should be guaranteed renewable for life, as long as you are gainfully employed full time at least 10 months each year. • The core of any disability income policy is its definition of “Total Disability” which outlines what constitutes being “totally disabled” and therefore eligible for benefits. This definition is in every carrier’s policy; however, it does not always mean the same thing. For example, some policies pay benefits if you Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
A Caveman’s Guide to Facebook Advertising tention, and are tempting to click.
By Jen Shehan
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f you're looking to spice up your Facebook ads, you need look no further than what would have caught the eye of primitive man. Huh? While yes, many things have changed over the centuries, but you'll be interested to know that attraction hasn't actually changed very much since the days of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. So if you are looking to draw more people to your Facebook ads, take these caveman lessons:
Lesson #1: Notice fire Back in cave days, a healthy respect of fire was good for survival. Today if someone yells "FIRE" in a public space, you can expect people to react in panic, even though the fire can't be seen. The mere mention of it induces anxiety and alertness. Since fire has been important to man's existence, we still have strong responses to the colors today. If you have any doubt about this, recall the colors of traffic lights and signs: red, orange and yellow. Coincidentally enough, when the same colors are found in Facebook ads, we take notice. They command urgency, at-
Lesson #2: Notice when something is out of place Is that a saber tooth tiger in my peripheral vision?! YIKES! Isn't it wild to know that the same survival mechanism that allowed early man to detect danger is still around helping modern man? Well, you can use this to your advantage if you want to interrupt the flow of your fans checking out interesting pictures of their friends and ongoing updates in their News Feed. It is instinctive to notice something that is "out of place." Advertisers can use this by including something in the image that shouldn't naturally be there. Here are some examples of captivating our attention by making our minds do a "double take." This ranges from covering an image, using a well-known image in another way, or putting a border around the ad.
age does wonders on Facebook, across markets and genders. This isn't a flippant, "sex sells" comment; both men and women tend to find the picture of a happy woman reassuring and respond to physical beauty. While we may feel so "evolved", it's fun to think many of the same forces of attraction have been within us for centuries. Tapping into primitive man may actually help us to find ways to attract modern man (and woman, of course). Knowing what attracts attention on Facebook is just the beginning of creating well- converting campaigns. What have been the images for your best converting ads? Would a caveman have approved? I look forward to hearing
what has worked for you. Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. http://www.fbadslab. com/fb-insights/ Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/ article/1051609302-1-a-cavemans-guideto-facebook-advertising/
Getting Started with Your Website:
What You Need to Know
Lesson #3: Primitive Man Likes a Happy Woman
By Peter Pike
Primitive man needs a mate. (Grin.) He wants a companion and children, so he is drawn to an attractive, smiling woman. Shockingly this kind of im-
etting started with your website can be a tough process. But setting up a site has become easier with the many tools and resources available at your disposal. Basically you need to get a domain name, select a web host, design and test the site. And the final step is to get people to visit your site. 1. Acquire a Domain Name The domain name will be the name of your website. It is like registering a business name. You need to pay an annual fee ($10 to $35) once you have it registered. You can register with a domain name registrar although there is an option to register it via a web hosting service. Make sure that the name you choose is appropriate for your business. 2. Choose a Web Hosting Service A web hosting company consists of computers and servers linked to the web. When the company hosts your website, anyone on the Internet will be able to access it. Web hosting services require you to open an account with them first. Think of a hosting service as a store or office where your service operates. When selecting a host, assess how much disk space they offer. Other issues to consider are bandwidth, reliability, and technical support and FTP access. For a business site, commercial web hosting services are preferable because they offer more in terms of support and services. Your web host will help in setting up the domain name and most of the time, they will also teach you in terms of getting started with your website. 3. Web Design Pointers If you’re in a hurry, simply hire a professional web designer to create your site. If you’re going to do it yourself, get
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a WYSIWYG (“What You See Is What You Get”) web editor. There are free web authoring tools, commercial software and web-based editors available. Software today has made HTML designing easier. You are shielded from a lot of the technical stuff, although you can code if you want. These days though, creating a web page is no more difficult than designing a page in a word processor or desktop publishing program. 4. Test Your Website Testing should be done as you design the site. Make sure that it is compatible with Chrome, Opera, Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer. These browsers are free to download. Also check if the site forum, forms, animation and other elements are working properly. 5. Get People to Know That Your Site Exists When your website is complete; submit it to search engines like Bing and Google. The links on your site will help people find it. You can also promote your site by joining social networks and adding a link to your site. There are professional PR services available that you can use, too. As you can see, a lot of factors come into play when you study how to start a website. But it isn’t as complicated as it sounds. As long as you have the right services and tools, everything should go smoothly. Peter Pike - We share many HostGator Coupon Codes 2013, Godaddy Coupon Codes 2013 and many other hosting providers. Please use code NEW2013XLD994 when buying hosting at HostGator.com, it will save you $9.94 OFF. Visit http://couponclerks.com for more codes. Sharing is my life :) Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz. com
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Blogging Tips:
Five Ways to Set Your Blog on Fire
core audience. Some bloggers turn to excessive profanity or explicit material to create controversy. In fact, the use of profanity is so overused online that it’s no longer controversial – merely bad taste. Controversy is best served with smart writing or truly amazing graphics. My advice for attracting a significant following is to find your voice, be original, create unique content and keep posting, posting, posting. Do some research and seek out bloggers whose work you admire. When you connect with other quality bloggers online, be generous by sharing tips and making the time to visit their blogs and leave comments. It’s fine to promote yourself to your community, but keep in mind that people have busy lives and helping you grow your blog audience is not their top priority.
Remember that while controversy will get attention, clever is always better than profane or mean. Nancy Wurtzel writes at Dating Dementia -- slightly twisted and humorous blog -- about making big changes at midlife. Read about Nancy’s journey through divorce, restarting a career, dating, empty nest challenges, moving home, baby boomer issues and caring for an aging parent with moderate dementia. Visit Dating Dementia to find our more at http://www.datingdementia. com. Connect with Dating Dementia on Facebook and Nancy on Twitter: @ nancywurtzel Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/ article/1051539217-1-blogging-tips-fiveways-to-set-your-blog-on-fire/
No One Is Signing Up For My Stuff! By Nancy Wurtzel
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logging takes time, and there is nothing worse than spending hours creating a new post only to find a week later that a mere handful of people read your work and no one even bothered to leave a comment. A lack of followers is why many people abandon their blog after just a few months. So how do you attract readers to your blog and build a loyal following? It won’t happen overnight. We’ve been trained in the digital society to expect instant results. However, there is no getting around that you must put in the effort by consistently posting and promoting your blog. Also, realize that you have lots of competition. There are now over 150 million blogs in existence – an incredible statistic – and that number grows daily. Everyone is competing for followers, so you are competing with many, many other bloggers. You might think that a successful blog isn’t even possible, but here are some tips that will bring you results. 1. Quality is King but Perfection is Overrated. Outstanding content is the single most important element to your audience – people will not return if the site is a loser so work hard to create the best writing, images and video. Yet, a blog post does not have to be perfect. You will need to keep the content stream going and sometimes good enough just has to be good enough. 2. Don’t be Shy! You’ve got great content, now don’t hold back. Use every platform you can find to promote your blog. Think of your blog as a product you are marketing using social networking platforms. Initially it is acceptable to share your posts with friends, family and some co-workers – you will be surprised who will become a loyal follower. However, be sensitive and don’t hound friends and family continually to read your blog.
Think outside your immediate circle. Visit other blogs and leave comments or helpful tips. Find online platforms to list your blog or create guest posts. Write a press release about your blog or a byline story (like the one you are reading now) on a subject related to your blog. 3. Learn From Your Elders. Identify a few dozen successful bloggers across a number of categories and look hard at what they are doing right. Take notes. You will learn a lot from others who have come before you. You can get ideas from what they are writing and sometimes, you can even take the opposing viewpoint (which will create some controversy). Above all, always make sure that you create your posts with your own personal perspective and in your own voice. Successful bloggers learn from others, but they are not copycats. 4. Be Generous. You’ll find friends online who will write guest posts for you and ask you to guest post for them. It’s like going into a store with an outer and an inner set of doors. You open the door for someone and they will then open the second door for you. Just like in life, courtesy goes a long way. At a blogger conference, I once befriended someone who was standing alone at a mixer. Turns out that while she is terribly shy in large social gatherings, she is also a popular blogger with a huge following. Since that conference, my new friend has proved to be one of my biggest supporters and her professional assistance has helped me enormously. 5. Controversy Sells. Yes, controversy can attract a large following, but think before you post. For example, some bloggers will post about their personal relationship issues with spouses, siblings, parents and children. Ask yourself: Is the blog post idea valid and true? Would you be invading someone’s privacy just to get people to notice you? You could cause hurt feelings with friends and family members or even lose your job. If your post is just shocking for the sake of being shocking, you can easily turn off your
By Kim Kirmmse Toth Contributing Writer
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ou work so hard getting a product or service ready that you know everyone is going to want... but no one is buying! We have all been there. I know I have been there and it's not a fun place to be. You love your clients and the others on your list, in your data base. You even asked them to answer some questions on your survey and you thought you were giving them what they said they wanted. So, what went wrong? Here are some thoughts: Did you have a snazzy, jazzy title? Did you have a strong tag line? If you are not sure, ask others. I suggest you never create a title or tag line all by yourself. Ask others for their input and be open for new ideas. The title is a very important piece. What about your launch? The days when you can just shoot out a few emails and get people to sign up have been long gone. You need a real launch plan and strategy. It may seem like a lot of work up front but as you move through your launch you will be glad you took the time to make it right. I suggest you write all your emails in one or two days as opposed to every day writing another one. My experience is that when I write them all at once they flow better than when I do them more haphazardly. There is also a trend you may have noticed. People are giving a lot more content than they had in the past. You see videos more and more which is very good marketing. It makes the time line of getting people to know, like and trust you much shorter. It's much more personal. One of the things that I see many people fall down on, myself included sometimes is not sending out enough marketing emails. Yes, you may get people that unsubscribe but that's OK. They
weren't going to buy from you anyway. If your emails are strong and powerful and give great information people will not mind. And you know you don't read all the emails you get in your in-box. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. The other mistake some people make is to not market long enough. Unless you are doing a live workshop you can still continue to send out a few emails, use social media, your ezine and always put your link. If it's a teleseries that goes for several weeks or months people can sign up later and still get the MP3's and/or transcript. So, don't stop marketing just because your first class has started. People sign up last minute all the time. There are ways to lessen this though and that is to offer bonuses that disappear unless they sign up now and price increases as time goes on. These are just a couple of ideas why people may not be signing up for your programs or services. Of course there are many more and this is one little article. I think the key is that after you have done a launch and you didn't get the numbers you wanted, sit back and take a look. Don't just say, I'll do better next time. Really sit down with pen and paper and write done some things you know you could be better with next time. It's all a learning curve and with technology and more sophistication, things are changing all the time. It's important to keep up with the trends so your business can be the best it can be. If you are a savvy woman (or even gentleman) and a heart-centered solopreneur who wishes to grow an exceptional, heart based on-line business, let Kim show you the way at http://www.positiveaginginc. com Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/ article/1051600848-1-no-one-is-signingup-for-my-stuff/
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Characteristics of An Excerpt from Great Customer Service The Power of Networking
By Rod “Storyteller” White Contributing Writer
By Errol D. Allen Contributing Writer
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n order to be successful at any endeavor, one has to identify the essentials required to accomplish that feat. It’s the same in customer service. What essentials are required to create great customer experiences which lead to maximum customer retention? I’ll give you six characteristics that I feel are key ingredients. Reliability-Customers expect product/ service providers to be dependable and accurate during interactions. Take your home electricity - as long as you pay the bill you expect the lights to come on when you flip that switch. Do customers consider your organization to be reliable? Are you rated high for dependability? Can your customers trust that you will do what you say you will do? These are key factors to providing a great customer experience. Competence-This characteristic measures knowledge and skill level in regards to one’s product/services. If you surveyed your customer, what would they say about the level of competency exhibited by those within your organization? Internet access allows today’s customer to gain knowledge about yours and your competitor’s organization. Once the interaction begins, will your customer know more about your products/services than front line personnel and others within your organization? Make sure that everyone within your organization is a product/service expert in order to receive a high rating for competency. Responsiveness-When customers enter your brick and mortar location, call on the phone, email or initiate a web chat, how long does it take for someone to acknowledge their presence? One of the most dreaded customer experiences is waiting to be serviced or even just to be acknowledged! How long are your customers waiting for service? When issues arise, how long before the situation is addressed and a resolution provided to the customer? The responsiveness clock
is ticking in your customer’s head while waiting to be serviced or to receive a reply to inquiry. Courtesy-In my opinion, this one is the easiest characteristics to exhibit. If there is one thing that we can all control is our ability to be kind and polite. All customers deserve common courtesy. Courtesy goes a long way with customers, especially when they’re unhappy with your product/service. Body language and facial expressions also contribute to the courtesy factor. What score will your customer contact personnel receive for courtesy? Credibility-Can your customer deem your organization as credible? This characteristic is an image builder. We’re taking about trustworthiness here! Does your performance match what you advertise? Does your organization deliver on its promises? Choosing to take the steps necessary to ensure credibility helps to create a reputation for believability. One act by one person which puts your organization’s credibility into question can be an image killer. Protect your organization’s future by insisting that everyone perform their duties in a manner that passes the credibility test. Consistency-This is the glue that holds it all together. Consistency creates long term customers. Consider this - If your organization is consistently reliable, competent, responsive, courteous and credible, you’re probably providing many great customer experiences. Consistency means establishing a pattern of behavior. Does your customer’s rating of your organization indicate a pattern of great behavior in regards to the customer experience? Can your customer depend upon your organization to provide a high level of service every time they choose to utilize your products/services? The ability to intermittently exercise the five aforementioned characteristics will not help in your quest to provide great customer service. When consistency is added, long term retention is usually the result.
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othing binds community together better than proper relationship building. The excerpt below will give you a few definitions to tell you what networking means to many. Use these definitions, go out, and build relationships that will serve you for years to come. What is Networking? “Networking is not about hunting. It is about farming. It is about cultivating relationships. Do not engage in ‘premature solicitation’. You’ll be a better networker if you remember that.” – Dr. Ivan Misner, NY bestselling author & founder of BNI I asked this very question of a recent the audience during “The Power of Networking” Seminar and the truth of the matter is that networking has different meanings to different people. However, most agreed that the main purpose of
networking is to gain new friends and customers. Other definitions of networking – One of the best definitions for networking that I have found is… “Networking is the process of getting connected. Someone you know links you to someone you don’t know so that both you and your new contact can exchange and gain information.” Unknown “Successful networking is reciprocal; you provide information and contacts for others and they (or someone else will) do the same for you.” “Give openly to someone and someone will give generously to you.” This writer happens to believe that networking is purposeful relationship building. What we must understand is that networking takes time… and like all relationships, nurturing, in order to gain strength. If handled correctly you will be able to establish mutually beneficial business relationships, and often forge lifelong friendships in the process. In fact, my personal mission statement is to surround myself with smart, friendly people that understand the value of strong relationships. I believe that the strength of my network reflects my mission. What does your personal mission statement say about your network?
I’ll say it again - Be Consistently Reliable, Competent, Responsive, Courteous and Credible. Exercising these characteristics will assist your organization in its quest to provide great customer experiences!
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
How Small Changes Make a BIG Difference
It's no secret that mortgage rates are at record lows. But according to many so called "gurus", it only makes sense to refinance if you can save x or y amount of dollars. Don't let all the guru noise or internet-babble discourage you from checking things out for your own situation. For example, consider someone who just purchased a home or refinanced their $200,000 mortgage several months ago. They might have a mortgage rate of 5.5%. Many "experts" would say it's not worth it to refinance unless they can lower their rate by a full 1% without paying points. However, what if they paid $4,000 in points and closing costs to reduce the rate to 4.5% and bumped up their mortgage balance to $204,000? Here's what their situation might look like: Old Payment = $1,135.58 New Payment = $1,033.64 Payment Savings = $101.94 If they save the $101 @ 4.5% they will have:
If they save the $101 @ 6% they will have:
$6,782 in 5 years
$7,047 in 5 years
$15,271 in 10 years
$16,552 in 10 years
$25,897 in 15 years
$29,373 in 15 years
$39,210 in 20 years
$46,666 in 20 years
$76,698 in 30 years
$101,456 in 30 years
Wow!! If this represented your situation, and you listened to all the "gurus" telling you not to bother refinancing, you would actually LOSE up to $101,456! Do yourself a favor. Put that $101,456 back in your pocket by calling me today! Although I'm not promising that you will qualify to save exactly this much money, I will help you save as much money as possible TM
in your situation. As a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS速), I am committed, qualified and equipped to help you evaluate your options and make smart choices. Contact me for more information
Harold "Ahmad" Steele, CMPS
速
NMLS Number 258383 Liberty Bank & Trust Co. 1776 Yorktown Suite: LL-100 Houston, TX 77056 (832) 876-2462 direct (713) 681-3703 - Office alternate (888) 204-9743 fax asteele@nextdayapproval.com http://www.NextDayApproval.com
Standardizing the mortgage planning process through participation with the CMPS community of experts.
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
MLB Diversity Business Summit The 2013 MLB Diversity Business Summit, the premier sports employment and supplier diversity trade fair, was recently held in Houston, TX. This one-day event allowed job seekers and entrepreneurs the unique opportunity of meeting with MLB's Clubs at both the Major League and Minor League level as well as sponsorship partners. It also served as a platform for extending baseball's ability to contribute to the economic growth, strength and well-being of the city’s diverse communities.
“...served as a platform for extending baseball’s ability to contribute to the economic growth, strength and well-being of the city’s diverse communities.”
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
23.
Western Area Links visit HISD’s Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy The Western Area Conference of the Links, Incorporated, comprised of 55 chapters in 10 states (seven chapters in the Houston area) with over 2,000 members, recently made a big difference in the Houston community. The more than 800 women of the organization contributed $30,000 to help revitalize the campus of the all-girls Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, housed in a refurbished 1926 school building on Cleburne St. The school was launched in 2011 for low to moderate income girls in Houston’s Third Ward, the first single-gender school in the Houston Independent School District. The Western Area Conference of the Links, Incorporated have truly shown they are committed to Seize The Moment To Strengthen The Chain Of Friendship And Service. “Educational advancement is a key national initiative of The Links, Incorporated,” says Constance M. Fitzpatrick Smith, Western Area Director of The Links, Incorporated. “We recognize and support the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy’s strong commitment to providing girls with the skills and support that they need to achieve success.” says Smith.
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Become Your Own Personal CFO By Bryan Romelfanger
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ell, just apply your professional talents to the situation and become your own personal CFO. By using your CFO eyes on the situation, it somehow tempers the pain of dealing with your own money. To get started, here are 5 rules for treating your personal finances like a business: 1. Be Your Own Board of Directors. To make good decisions, you must know what you’re trying to achieve. In business, Board of Directors write mission statements to keep the company on track with goals. At home, it’s up to you to define your mission and make sure you’re fulfilling it by writing down your goals. Not just your financial goals either, but your “life” goals. 2. Know Your Operating Costs. Do you know what you spend every month on average? Businesses do because they base their budgets on historic spending patterns. Most people, however, don’t know what it costs to keep their lives running. You can make out detailed budgets, but find out at the end of the month that you haven’t stuck to it. So instead of doing a budget that dictates how much to spend, do a “cash flow statement” that records how much you actually spend each month broken into
several categories. 3. Know Your Net Worth. Companies measure progress toward goals through balance sheets which list their assets and liabilities. Your net worth is your balance sheet where you list everything that you own. That means your checking and savings accounts, investments, car, house, etc. minus everything you owe. Track your net worth quarterly to make sure you’re moving toward your personal goals. Without this step, you might not see the impact of your money decisions until it’s too late. 4. Forecast Money Decisions Results. When a business makes important decisions, they use a process called “scenario planning”. They look at the possible outcomes of one choice compare to another. You can use the same process to make smart money decisions. For any choice, pick two options, and then look at what each answer would do to your cash flow and net worth. Remember, there are no “good” or “bad” choices - only choices that put you closer or farther from your goals. 5. Track Progress by Annual Reports. Just as companies assess their progress in their annual reports, you need to review your list of priorities every year. Have you accomplished any goals? Have your spending patterns changed? Did you spend less than you earned? Did you save as much as you planned? You need to treat your money like you treat your business. Give it the time it
deserves, because in the end the time you spend is really an investment in yourself and your dreams. CDNA LLC has created a new spreadsheet or excel-based tool any business owner, entrepreneur or investor can easily use to create sets of pro forma financial statements. These include Cash
Flow, Income Statements and Balance Sheets so you can see how your business is really doing. And, you can create 5-year projections. See more at http:// afft.bz4us.com Article Source:http://www.articlebiz.com/ article/1051582195-1-become-your-ownpersonal-cfo/
Go the Extra Mile By Kate Marsden
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f you want a quick way to boost your profits, you need to make sure you are going the extra mile to look after your best customers, before someone else does. Think hard about your biggest clients or customers. Can you think of something you did that they would say shows you have over-delivered for them? Not just things they would expect as standard, but really going the extra mile? Have you ever sent them your product and given them free samples of something else? Have you supported them in a charity venture they were undertaking? Have you helped them get through a crisis in their business just because you could rather than because you had to? Or have you phoned and taken them for lunch just to talk about how you can help them? If the answer to those questions is no, start thinking about how you can differentiate your business and what you can do to show how important those customers are to you. People often go the extra mile when they are trying to win new business, but often forget that retaining customers is more important than winning new ones. Don’t mistake these things for the standard “corporate entertaining” stuff. Everyone has been
invited to work dos, races, parties and so on – and most people would never make a decision based on these things. I’m talking about personal, relevant and wow things that really show that you are going the extra mile for your customers – not that you have big budgets to spend! Keep these principles in mind: • Always under-promise and overdeliver, never the other way round; • Never tell your customers no because that’s “the policy”; • Have quicker response times to everything than your competitors; • Think about the long term value of these customers, not what this might cost today; • If they are in a hole, do whatever you can to get them out of it – even if you aren’t obliged to; • Be personal in what you do – people do business with people, not faceless companies. If you haven’t done these things, now is the time to get busy quickly. Customers need to be reminded constantly that you value them and are doing more than just giving them what they pay for. People hate being taken for granted and being treated as if you have the right to their money and you need to make an emotional connection with people to get them to stick with you and your business. So, take action NOW – this week, find a way to go the extra mile this week for at least one of your key customers, whenever or however you can. Kate Marsden is the founder of The Profit Mechanic (www.TheProfitMechanic.co.uk) – dedicated to giving Small Business Owners the tools, input and resources they need to succeed in the most important thing in their business – increasing profit. Kate has more than 20 years business experience, including as Director for a number of well known organizations and as owner of her own businesses. Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/ article/1051611307-1-go-the-extra-mile/
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
One More Time…
By Thecia Jenkins Contributing Writer “I haven’t failed. I’ve identified 10,000 ways this doesn’t work.” ~ Thomas Edison little boy who did not speak until he was four years old or read until he was seven, a high school basketball player who was cut from the team, an artist that sold only one painting to a friend and yet completed eight hundred pieces of art; and a senior citizen who was angry that his social security check was only $105.00 set out to become an entrepreneur at sixty-five. What do these individuals have in common? They possess the emotional competency of optimism, the ability to pursue goals despite obstacles and setbacks. What have you encountered in the past year? Perhaps a layoff, a failed relationship, a rejected manuscript or foreclosure. Well, this year is not over and if you are reading this you are still among the living and that means you can still get back on track
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The first step to getting back on track is recognizing that the steps you have taken are not taking you to the desired destination. Persistence is key, however, steadily moving forward in a direction that is not yielding the desired results is insanity. Be willing to be flexible and adapt to the current circumstances. Secondly, take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps you are excellent at handling the technical side of your business, but are struggling with the day to day running of the business. Now might be the time to delegate or hire a virtual assistant or bring on an intern to free you to pursue what comes naturally to you. And finally, recognize that you are not perfect. You are human and part of the human experience is experiencing setbacks, failures and disappointments that can derail you. Persistence and optimism will get you back on track. Now get yourself back on track and walk in your purpose just like Albert Einstein, who was thought to be mentally disabled and went on to be awarded the Noble Prize; Michael Jordan, who was let go from his high school basketball team and went on to become a basketball legend; Vincent Van Gogh, one of the greatest artists in history who only sold one piece of art during his lifetime yet completed over 800 pieces of art because he believed in his craft; and Colonel Sanders of KFC, who was turned down 1009 times when seeking financing for his company. The world is waiting on you!
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Important Answers You Need To Have To Build A Successful Business
By Elbert Bruna
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any people have the desire to start a business. It’s partly because we all want to know what it would be like to not have to work for someone else. If you have experience or a real fascination with the type of product you’re selling, the whole idea will excite you. It has never been simpler to start your own business. Now you don’t even need an office, store or factory to start a business -you can do the whole thing online. On the other hand, if you are planning to start an online business you shouldn’t underestimate the amount of planning required. You will have more success with your online business if you start off by asking yourself these questions. Why is your idea unique? Some people have great ideas, but not all of them are unique. It’s simply not possible to do in today’s society. In regard to the Internet, this is very true for digital products and services. It seems like, no matter what you’ve thought up, there is already a website devoted to it. In most cases, you should not try to create something completely brand-new at all. Essentially, any success will derive itself from simply putting a twist or spin on something that is already in existence. By doing this, it will be unique in and of itself. Let’s say you want to teach people how to train dogs on their own. How you find something unique is by training your dog’s in your own special way. You need to decide on what market to target. This is something you really need to know prior to getting the business up and running. Essentially, you can’t create your business, or mold it properly, until you understand
who you are actually targeting. Your target demographic is also your target market. Completely interchangeable, business planning services will often use both terms, switching them without thinking. An easy example is selling a book on dog training, but trying to sell it to sheep herders or people who love rats. So if you place a few ads about a retirement vacation home, you don’t want to target single moms with a couple kids. You get the idea. Will my business be providing something essential to people? There has to be something in particular you have to offer your customers. This is quite straightforward, but you should address it. All businesses begin by meeting a certain demand. You must give plenty of thought to what desire or demand your business will be supplying. Services as well as products can be offered. Being an affiliate is an option if you want to have many different items to potentially sell. There are so many different things that you need to decide when you want to open your own business. Both online and offline businesses demand plenty of time and attention during the preparatory stages. You can start out by considering the questions we’ve presented in this article. In time, you’ll discover plenty of other questions as well. This process of answering questions can help clarify many things for you. lazy marketing blog reveals how to naturally increase lazymarketingblog. com and linkpopularityservice.net. Avoid struggling because you never knew about visit site - it is not your mistake you didn’t know. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz. com
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Sales Training Tips for Targeting Powerful People
By Charles Wiliams
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hen selling to powerful people you need to pare down the time of personal interaction to the minimum essentials without cutting down on the time spent communicating and in closing the deal. This is the first thing you need to understand about corporate decision makers – they will respond when you allow them to respond according to their convenience and priorities (emails, voice messages). And you need to phase out personal interaction into phases of video/audio conferencing or phone calls, and sessions of actual physical collocation. If you respect the time of powerful people, you stand a better chance of achieving your targets. So, here are five time-tested strategies for dealing with corporate decision makers 1. When prospecting, identify and go for those with influence rather than those with authority Now this might seem difficult to understand at the beginning because you are used to seeing every person in authority as influential. However, may be, you can recount instances where you met people with influence, but who were not in seats of authority? These are the best targets. To get to people with authority, you need to get to people with influence over those who have authority, but who themselves are still in the “achieving” and not “achieved” mode. They have a higher chance of sparing time for you, and you
stand a better chance of aligning with them than with the top boss when on your first cold call. 2. Do not spend time over people who neither have influence, nor have authority, but have a fancy title The corridors of power are filled with self-important people trying to cash in on their proximity to power, but only a few call the real shots. It is extremely necessary for salespeople to identify these people who position themselves at every entrance of power without possessing either power or influence themselves. These people would eat up your time and destroy your prospects faster than anything else could. They are known to be vindictive, egotists, and false. And they thrive on convincing salespeople that they hold the key to power, and can get them there. Always check trackrecords, and do thorough research before deciding upon the person to approach within an organization. 3. How to spot who has buying power or influence Some things we have seen common in people who have purchasing authority, as also influence, are exceptional communications skills – they always seem to have time, they can do things very quickly and can tell right off what you want to say at the final point; they always seem to know what actually matters, and they are more focused on knowing how much you know about them than your solution – they work a lot on trust and intuition. Thorough sales training is required to deal with such power buyers.
4. Find C-level executives who are not glorified secretaries Usually the length of tenure of a Clevel executive with a person in authority is a gage of the influence the executive holds, or the information he/she can provide. However, such executives are usually fiercely loyal to their organizations and the maximum you can expect from them are helpful hints and leads. The right way to deal with C-level executives is to treat them as friends and not as secretaries, show them respect, learn their names and ask for help. 5. Do you have a power buyer leading the sales cycle? How to know whether you’ve got into contact with the right person or not? Power buyers usually have certain common traits that they exhibit during a sales cycle. In the beginning of the sales cycle, they would get right to the point, make things simple, and provide you with a reference with whom to work. In the mid-sales cycle they would ask you to meet the team and meet responsible
people. They’ll usually respond before closing the deal, when they reappear on the scene you know it’s now or never. People sometimes miss out these things during regular sales training programs within organizations. Some of it comes from assumptions of people in charge of conducting sales training online, who may not consider it relevant for newcomers to learn about how to deal with power buyers. Or may think he/she would learn in time. However, in sales, you never know when you come into contact with a person of influence or authority, and this is why these tips from our knowledge of sales training can help you make most of situations. Targeting picky customers requires powerful sales expertise, BBI provides such sales training online environment which grooms your sales executives to deal with any kind of people and convert them into long time customers. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz. com
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Business Success TipsWill the Real Business Owner Please Stand Up By Terry Green
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ave you ever felt that way? You started your business with full intentions of being the boss, running the show, calling the shots, (you know where we are going with this), But over time, things happened and now you are feeling more and more like someone else is at the helm of your business. Commitments, deadlines, too much travel; what happened? When did you lose control? Well, we can’t really tell you exactly how it happened, except to say that it happens to the best of us, but we can tell you what to do about it. Our top tips to help you reclaim your business include: Recognize – The first step is to dig deep and realize where the problem lies. No excuses. We know you are busy, but that’s probably one of the reasons this is happening and how you lost control in the first place. You need to recognize the challenges you are facing so you can see where you need to make changes. Are you not in charge due to too much travel, too many speaking commitments, too much paperwork, or other reasons? If so, write them down so you can see them clearly in black and white. And be specific. Simply saying “I’m too busy” isn’t enough; you need to be very specific so you can later focus on that particular challenge.
Reflect On Your Skills – Make a checklist – Where do you excel? What are you truly good at? Are you a fabulous speaker and once you get in front of people they cling to your every word? Do you coach others and have testimonials of those who have truly excelled as a result of your coaching? What is it that you are passionate about and love doing? Write it down and remember—our goal is to help you do more of these things. Reflect On Your Business - Now, during a typical week, how much time are you devoting to the tasks you truly excel at? Review your checklist after a few days of actual work and see how you match up. To make it even clearer, use a yellow highlighter to mark the times during the day when you are doing the things you excel at and get paid the most for. (Eye opening isn’t it?) How much time are you really spending on what you do best? Take Charge – Did the exercises above make it clear to you that you are no longer the CEO or head of your business? Now that you know where the problem lies, what are you going to do about it? You need to set in motion steps to make a change. And don’t just say— I’m going to change. Start by setting small goals, and write down specifics for how you truly can change. Again, it’s important to get specific. Do Less – What? Yes, let me repeat that. Do Less. You shouldn’t be doing it all. And if you are, that’s the problem. We know you’ve heard this before, but
this time, truly apply it to your own business, right now. You rarely see a CEO of a major corporation doing bookkeeping, setting up or maintaining their own website, sending out their ezines and newsletters, preparing their travel arrangements, or creating their own PowerPoint presentations. So then, why are you? To reclaim your business, and your position in your business, you need to do less…less of the wrong things and more of the right things. Hire an Online Support Specialist You need to hire an online support specialist. You need someone who can take over those tasks that are tying up your time but not making you any money so you are free to really run the show again. Not only can they take over these tasks, but their experience can help you master other things as well. Things you know you need to do, but just don’t have the
skills or experience to do well … or do at all. Wouldn’t it feel great to be in charge again and feel that victory and excitement you felt when you started your business? Take these steps and see just how easy it is to do. And remember, we are here to help and can take over the tasks that are holding you back. Terry L. Green, President of BizEase Support Solutions, and her team of qualified online support specialists, provide seamless online marketing implementation, technology and administrative support solutions to speakers and business coaches worldwide. Visit http:// www.bizeasesupport.com to find out how partnering with BizEase can help you grow your business, have more time, and make more money. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz. com
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
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Ingredients For Success
By Ijeoma “EeJay” Agada Contributing Writer
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o with me to a really nice restaurant in town. You try the chef’s recommendation, hoping for the best. Slowly you take the first mouthful and to your surprise... you’re in heaven. How delicious is this meal?! Hmm… You are absolutely blown away. After your meal, the waiter comes to you and asks if you would like to meet the chef. You agree. While conversing with the chef, you are generous with compliments. Then they do something unusual, and to your chagrin, offer you the meal’s recipe. You take this recipe, whether you are a good cook or not, knowing that if you followed the instructions closely, you would eventually reproduce like results on your first or umpteenth try. Success is the same and here is the recipe: 1. Customer Service: How do you treat others? Not just your clients. How do you treat your employees, employer, colleagues, acquaintances, friends, etc? Your network is usually your primary/ initial referral source and if you treat them well they will be more than happy to refer you, promote you, recommend you, and patronize you. It is no secret that no one wants to deal with a bad attitude, and if you do have a bad attitude and people deal with you anyways, know they are tolerating you. The moment someone with an equal value product or skill shows up, well you know what’s next. The golden rule says treat people how you want to be treated and the platinum rule says treat people how they want to be treated. Whichever you subscribe to is fine. Bottom-line, no one wants to deal with a bad attitude. 2. Confidence: Do you know your worth? If you are charging less than your worth, you will eventually exhaust your resources and if you are charging more
than your worth, you will eventually exhaust your client list. When you put in the appropriate time and effort (or even go above and beyond), it shows. 3. Passion: You have heard the saying, “If you do what you love, you will never work another day in your life.” We can only do so much for money for so long. The average employee stays at a job for less than two years before dusting off their resume (that’s if it has even collected any dust at all) and making a run for the door. This is because money is not usually enough and people want to feel a sense of purpose in what they are doing; whether they can articulate it or not. Find your purpose and follow it. It may be off the beaten path, follow it. 4. Positive Thinking: Always find ways to see the glass as half full. Every problem is an opportunity for a solution. See the problem as a challenge that could take your career/business to the next level. A wise man once said, “Do not pray for a life free of trouble, pray for triumph over trouble, for what you and I call adversity, God calls opportunity.” The reality is that most people avoid challenges; however, you seeing challenges as opportunities already set you apart. This mindset puts you in that magnificent minority of people who change the world. 5. Honesty: Most of the times when you think you are pulling the wool over someone’s eye; you are usually fooling no one but yourself. Human beings are generally smart and if they do not figure out your trickery immediately, they eventually will. Always play fair and be honest, it may not favor you in the short-term but in the long-term it will. Most people value transparency and will appreciate you for it. Enjoy and share. -Co-founder of the Ukomadu Foundation. Ijeoma@ukomadufoundation.org
D-MARS.com Business Journal 7322 Southwest Fwy, Suite 805 Houston, Texas 77074
713-272-9511 . Phone 713-272-6364 . Fax
CONNECT WITH US ONLINE @d-mars.com
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
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July 2013
Business Blogging Tips: Top 10 Topics to Blog About By Sarah Carter Contributing Writer
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usiness blogging has many advantages. Blogging gives your company a chance to engage with your customers in a less formal setting than on your company website. A blog serves as an online platform for you to let your customers and potential customers in on some behindthe-scenes details about your company, highlight new products, announce special promotions and more. It can also be great for your SEO efforts. However, just creating a blog won’t do anything; you need to actually write in it, a lot. Many companies blog weekly or even daily, which means you need some great content to keep your readers interested. Are you dealing with writer’s block every time you sit down to compose a blog? Here are 10 great topics to help you get started. • Summarize an industry-related news story. At the end of your post, link to the original news story and say something like “read the full article here.” If you do this often, people will start to think of you as a resource for the latest updates in the industry, which means they’ll check back often to stay in-the-know. • Put the spotlight on an employee or current customer. This allows others to get to know people who use your product or service as well as your employees. It humanizes the company which makes it easier for people to trust and relate to you.
• Share details about a recent company event. Whether you want to make an announcement about when, where and why the event is happening or share photos and details about how the event went, your business blog is a great platform to do so. • Post a video. Create an entertaining video that pertains to your company or industry and post it on your blog with a short summary paragraph. If you can, make it funny, people are more likely to share a funny video with friends. Funny and entertaining videos will also help keep your brand in people’s minds. • Write a how-to post. How-to’s are one of the most popular blog entries. Did you know that 80% of people who visit a blog are visiting it for the first time? This is because they were searching for information (such as how to do something) that they found on the blog. Once they’re reading on your blog, they’re more likely to search through your other entries, then hopefully your website. • Describe little known 3rd party products that work well with your product. This is useful information that your target audience (customers or potential customers) would be interested to know. • Answer a common customer support question. This will not only help your customers but it also shows them that you genuinely care. Potential customers will see this and instantly gain more trust in your business.
• Highlight a product or service. If there’s a particular product or service you are promoting this month, feature it on your blog. Include a photo and let your readers know how this product or service makes their life easier, healthier, happier, more successful, etc. • Provide tips and tricks of the trade. Share some inside information on your industry with your readers. Giving them information they find interesting or useful but can’t get anywhere else is one way to get them to come back and read in the future. • Ask your customers’ opinion. Want to know whether or not people liked your newest product? Post a few poll questions as a blog. Encourage people to leave their opinion in the comments section. It’s an excellent way to get feedback about your product or service from the people who matter most, your customers. It also shows customers your company cares about what they think and you’re working to ensure they have an excellent experience. The possibilities are endless when you’re coming up with things to write about for your business blog. It’s important to always put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Think about what they would be interested in reading about.
What kind of information would entice them to read then motivate them to share with their friends? Then start blogging! They’ll appreciate your thoughtful and original content and return to read. Readers will hopefully turn into customers who will then eventually turn into advocates for your brand. Local SEO service provider, Local Splash, is headquartered in Santa Ana, California. Its proprietary technology and process secure high local search engine placement for single-location businesses and national chains with a local presence. To learn more about Local Splash and its local Internet marketing services, visit www.localsplash.com. Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/ article/1051515420-1-business-bloggingtips-top-10-topics-to-blog-about/
Experience Our World of Marketing and Communication
July 2013
33.
OUT with the Job IN with the Career!
By E’brandia L. Perry Contributing Writer
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ou jump up in a frenzied panic...It’s 6 a.m. With one eye open and the other still shut, you reach over to slap the snooze button on the alarm clock to stop it from screaming at the top of its electrical lungs with the daily reminder to go to work. Your inner self tells your outer self “Just 5 more minutes.” You lie back down only to find those extra 5 minutes appeared to have passed in 20 seconds. You throw yourself sluggishly out of bed and shuffle your feet to the loo “restroom.” You flick on the light. While anxiously feeling around the sink for your toothbrush with your eyes closed, you knock everything off the sink that you need, which forces you to open your eyes. As you stand up, eyes pulsating, blood shot, and burning from the light, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. Smacking your lips, you brace both hands on the sink and lean forward to get a better view. The person staring back is having what seems to be the daily recurrent conversation. “I’m so stressed out!” “I hate my job!”, “I didn’t go to school for this!”, “I have a degree in Computer Science, why am I working in Retail!”, “WHY! WHY! WHY!” Many people have this same exact talk while conversing with the man in the mirror. You’re not alone! I did an informal survey and handed it out to 10 random individuals. The survey asked three simple questions, “Do you have a job or career, do you work in your elected field of study, and if not, how does it make you feel?” From the questionnaire, the information revealed was quite touching. No one considered themselves to be a career professional, and none of them worked in their elected field of study. The feelings that most of them shared were the same. They felt
helpless and wanted to wallow in selfpity. They questioned their worth and abilities. Not one of those participants had any positive thoughts. The self-bashing continued for several sentences. The question here is…How do people end up in a situation as stressful as this? It’s quite simple. Many have spent years in college only to end up in a career never applying the skills learned. As a matter of fact, according to Forbes,” Sixty percent of U.S. college graduates cannot find a fulltime job in their chosen profession.” The struggle is real! It’s unfortunate information but it doesn’t have to be the final situation. Transitioning into the career of choice is possible. It may take a little persistence, but it is definitely possible. With a little extra effort and research, you won’t have to be two steps ahead in someone else’s career. You won’t have to go work on someone else’s dream job. You can wake-up happy! Turning a job into a career or making serious career moves is an enormous decision that requires a well-thought-out plan, great cover letter, and a resume that sparkles like the stars. Most employers want to know why you’re changing jobs and how’d they benefit from the change. Presenting a cover letter and resume should answer those questions. When building/rebuilding a cover letter or resume, make sure “the most important assets, transferable skills, and abilities” are highlighted in the first few lines. Cover letters and resumes have the power to say everything it needs to say within the first ten seconds of glancing. A career move may not bring immediate financial glories, but give it time. You may not even go in at the top, but getting in is what counts. Don’t just dream the dream…LIVE IT! As the old saying goes, “you never know until you try.” Make this the year of “out with the old, in with the new” or as I say, “OUT WITH THE JOB, IN WITH THE CAREER.”
A Couple of Awesome Details of Social Network Sites By Leigh Daw Brand-Building Resource This can be a dynamic utilization of social media. Brand recognition allows you to use social networking to determine how you want your company to be positioned, and what you convey to consumers about what your business does. If you use a little effort and have great content which shows your company’s strong points, values, and positive aspects, you’ll be able to build a solid brand reputation. Building an Online Community Social networking is all about relationships, and it is a great way for your small business to grow an online community. You obtain instant access to your fans who become members of your online community. Through social media, you’ll be able to determine what they like about what your company provides, and what they do not like. You are able to also find out what it is that your consumers desire. This interaction with your buyers can be more valuable than consumer research that you might spend a ton of money on. Getting Exposed It has been said that before a client makes a decision to buy from you, they need to be exposed to you six to eight times. Through social networking, you can get a great deal of repeat exposure.
You are able to minimize your sales cycle by being able to let the shopper know again and again what your organization has to offer them. Whenever you do, you’ll be upping your exposure. Not only that, but they might decide to share the details with their contacts. If they do, then the exposure could increase by double, triple, or maybe more. Expansion of Impact Your impact will grow as the number of your social networking fans grows. You are able to entice new consumers, have media interview you, and create joint venture partnerships, etc., if you have a large social media audience. Think about how people are when they witness a car accident on the side of the road. When you see a fire, it is the same way. Website Traffic Generator Social media can boost your traffic to your site. Social networking consists of spreading material. It will not come about in a single day, but you’ll be able to notice that social networking drives site traffic if you commit yourself to your efforts. As you can see, social media can make things materialize for you and your enterprise. If you are nervous in any way, keep in mind it is well worth the time, hard work, and cash your small business spends. Article Source: http://www.articlebiz. com/article/1051611981-1-a-couple-ofawesome-details-of-social-network-sites/
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7 Steps to Rebounding 6 Useful Tips For Reducing Work Stress After Blowing the Big Deal here is nothing sweeter in business than the phone ringing and on the other end of the line is your first “million dollar,” client. You know the client who has the budget and network to validate your expertise and justify why you stopped looking for a job. I am personally acquainted with the feeling of euphoria that overtakes you as you frantically run through the house, send out “I told you so emails,” and make phone calls to everyone you know. The only emotion that can match this feeling of success is the utter disappointment you feel when you fail to meet your “dream client’s,” expectation. I recall one such occurrence vividly. I stepped on the stage to what I thought was my destiny and promptly crashed and burned. It was like someone else had taken over my body with the express purpose of undoing twenty years of hard work. Like a prisoner behind a glass, I banged desperately trying to get the strangers attention, “Don’t do that,” I shouted to no avail. “Stop it,” I plead. Despite my greatest efforts, I failed. It was unexplainable. I had presented this presentation over 1,000 times, but this time I rambled and told really bad jokes. As I drove away, a feeling of dread overtook me and as the days turned
mistakes and keep moving forward. Follow up – Though you may have not met the client’s expectation, you can still follow up with a sincere card or letter explaining how honored you are to have worked with the organization, explain what went wrong and finally offer a product or service for free. Don’t replay in your mind – Failure can be tormenting. Don’t constantly replay the event in your mind because it will cause all the feelings of rejection an inadequacy to return. It’s okay to reflect, but don’t dwell, time heals all wounds. Perfect your brand – It’s important when a customer is not pleased for you to revisit your products and services and make the necessary modifications. Leverage your “Big Fish,” client – Despite your perceived failure, the company trusted you enough to contract your services. It only stands to reason if you attracted them, you could expand your base even more with their reference added to your biography or portfolio. Evaluate your services – During your next presentation, be sure to have participants evaluate your services. This will provide the feedback you need to reaffirm your expertise and add to your portfolio. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – Staking your entire career on one client is not a good business strategy. You must
into month with no word from the client, I knew I had called into question everything I’d work so hard to achieve. I am quite the competitor, therefore, I embarked on a journey to restore my reputation and confidence and through the process, I learned valuable tools that led to me not only retaining my first “million dollar,” client but it also helped me secure countless clients since. Implementing these few easy steps will start you back down the road to recovering your career. Change your perspective – One client is one client. Don’t lose confidence in your skills or certainty about your career path. Failure produces excellence and this is your opportunity to correct the
diversify your client base and view every customer as a “millionaire dollar,” client. If you treat all of your clients in this manner, when the “millionaire dollar,” client does make the call you will be accustomed to serving “millionaires.” It may take a little effort on your part to restore a fractured business relationship; however, as long as you haven’t offended the very tenants of the organization or company, you can recover. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, but numerous chances to make a second. Article Source: http://www.articlebiz. com/article/1051583356-1-7-steps-torebounding-after-blowing-the-big-deal
By Trenette Wilson
T By Tom Bordon
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STRESS!
his word is slowly becoming associated with office work and the phenomenon is global. It does not matter whether you are in a small company, a mid-sized company, a large multinational or a government organization. Cut throat competition, global economic meltdowns, inflation, recession, job cuts, pink slips, the world of work is becoming synonymous with stress. Coupled with the outside forces, you have no dearth of stress-creating factors inside the office as well. Pressing deadlines, stiff targets, office politics, mood swings of co-workers, one-upmanship, grumpy boss…apart from personal doubts, fears and worries – all add up to creating pressure on the mind and body. As a result, we continue to witness a growing incidence of work related health disorders such as heart ailments, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, cervical spondylosis and so on. Reducing work stress – a big challenge Minimizing job stress is thus one of the bigger challenges a CEO faces. The CEO has a big role to play in creating an office environment that thrives in a healthy work atmosphere. Here are a few tips for CEOs to create such a positive environment: 1. Simple, clean office interiors – You don’t need to have plush, expensive office interiors that cost a lot of money. For a small business, having a clean, business like, user-friendly office ambience is enough to motivate your employees. Make sure the work stations are clean and appealing with enough leg room and adequate space on the sides. Congested, disorganized work stations are big dampers. 2. Keep your office clutter free – Stacks of pending files, rows of filing cabinets topped with disorganized folders, boxes and cartons of inventory dumped in the corners can pull down the employees’ mood and productivity levels. Lead by example by keeping your own cabin clean and make sure your employees develop the self-discipline to keep their own work stations organized and clutter free. Similarly, keep a personal eye
on the shop floor workforce to ensure that the production areas remain clean and organized. 3. Do up the walls - You can do up the walls by placing some nice paintings or framed motivational quotes. Set up a pin board and encourage your employees to pin up interesting clippings. It is a good way of encouraging employee interaction. Use colors on the walls that are positive and energetic. 4. Encourage stress breaker programs – Hosting lunch-break programs on communication skills, time management and stress management are a proven way of breaking long stressful work hours and preventing burnouts. The lunch-time workshops, if handled in a planned, methodical manner within a specified time limit are great tools for helping employees get some relief from the pressures of looming deadlines and urgent deliveries. 5. Some surprise treats - You can sometimes order a lunch for the employees or a round of snacks. These simple yet pleasant gestures go a long way in boosting employee morale. 6. Stress breaking and brainstorming sessions for CEOs - Just as the lunchtime workshops help in keeping the workforce healthy and in good temper, the CEOs too need their own workshops where they can be honest and upfront about their problems and receive practical, tested solutions from their peers. CEO peer groups, CEO clubs and CEO associations often host executive coaching sessions or CEO conferences for business leaders, chief executive officers, presidents and entrepreneurs. These half-day sessions followed by lunch are a great way of helping CEOs network with fellow CEOs, discuss their problems and plans and receive matter-of-fact, useful solutions and advice. Tom Bordon is a freelance writer who has extensively written about CEO club and executive coaching sessions. His articles focus on guiding CEOs, business leaders and entrepreneurs on how they can utilize a CEO peer group or a CEO association to gain insights into managing their work pressures efficiently and making new business plans and strategies. Article Source: http://www.articlebiz. com/article/1051557851-1-6-useful-tipsfor-reducing-work-stress/
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Home Office Deduction By Joni Sterling Contributing Writer
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f you use part of your home for business, you may be able to deduct expenses for the business use of your home. The home office deduction is available for homeowners and renters, and applies to all types of homes. Simplified Option For taxable years starting on, or after, January 1, 2013 (filed beginning in 2014); you now have a simpler option for computing the business use of your home. This new simplified option can significantly reduce recordkeeping burden by allowing a qualified taxpayer to multiply a prescribed rate by the allowable square footage of the office in lieu of determining actual expenses. Taxpayers using the regular method (required for tax years 2012 and prior), instead of the optional method, must determine the actual expenses of their home office. These expenses may include mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation. Generally, when using the regular method, deductions for a home office are based on the percentage of your home devoted to business use. So, if you use a whole room or part of a room for conducting your business, you need to figure out the percentage of your home devoted to your business activities. Regardless of the method chosen, there are two basic requirements for your home to qualify as a deduction: 1. Regular and Exclusive Use You must regularly use part of your home exclusively for conducting business. For example, if you use an extra room to run your business, you can take a home office deduction for that extra room. 2. Principal Place of Your Business You must show that you use your home as your principal place of business. If you conduct business at a location outside of your home, but also uses your home substantially and regularly to conduct business, you may qualify for a home office deduction. For example, if you have in-person meetings with patients, clients, or customers in your home in the normal course of your business, even though you also carry on business at another location, you can deduct your expenses for the part of your home used exclusively and regularly for business. You can deduct expenses for a separate free-standing structure, such as a studio, garage, or barn, if you use it exclusively and regularly for your business. The structure does not have to be your principal place of business or the only
place where you meet patients, clients, or customers. Generally, deductions for a home office are based on the percentage of your home devoted to business use. So, if you use a whole room or part of a room for conducting your business, you need to figure out the percentage of your home devoted to your business activities. Additional tests for employee use. If you are an employee and you use a part of your home for business, you may qualify for a deduction for its business use. You must meet the tests discussed above plus: • Your business use must be for the convenience of your employer, and • You must not rent any part of your home to your employer and use the rented portion to perform services as an employee for that employer. If the use of the home office is merely appropriate and helpful, you cannot deduct expenses for the business use of your home. For a full explanation of tax deductions for your home office refer to Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home. In this publication you will find: • Requirements for qualifying to deduct expenses (including special rules for storing inventory or product samples). • Types of expenses you can deduct. • How to figure the deduction (including depreciation of your home). • Special rules for daycare providers. • Tax implications of selling a home that was used partly for business. • Records you should keep • Where to deduct your expenses (including Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home), required if you are self-employed and claiming this deduction using the regular method). Joni Sterling is a Sr. Stakeholder Liaison for the Internal Revenue Service, Houston TX. Stakeholder Liaison establishes relationships with practitioner and industry organizations representing small business and self-employed taxpayers. We
provide information about the policies, practices and procedures the IRS uses to ensure compliance with the tax laws. We also
elevate issues that affect tax administration. To establish a relationship with us email us at sl.southwest@irs.gov
Time For A Check-up
By Dr. Wendy Johnson Contributing Writer
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any of us started the year off with a lot of energy and created several business goals and aspirations. Now that the 2013 New Years resolution hype is over, where are you at in the process? Do you have the same momentum? Did you follow your plan or did you let life get in the way? It is time to take a step back and assess your situation so you can revise certain areas and execute any valuable low hanging fruit. Although there are technically, 4.5 solid business months left in the year, you still have time to put your ideas into action. Below are 5 steps to consider: 1. Re-Evaluate – At the beginning of the year many set goals that were based on emotions. Although at the time the goals seemed realistic, as time has gone by you have discovered that you simply lack the motivation to complete them as life circumstances may be different, etc. If this is the case you must re-evaluate your circumstance and develop goals that cater to your current situation. 2. Relevancy – Now that several months have gone by you must determine if your goals are still relevant. Six months is a lot of time and things change. You must ask yourself is your plan realistically achievable? Is your plan still relevant? Especially if you are off course. It is not too late to brainstorm ideas that can move your business to the
next level. 3. Realistic Marketing – Marketing is a BEAST! This appears to be one of the challenges that businesses encounter. Most people are familiar with their industry, however you MUST know your target market. This can be very confusing considering there are so many options. The attraction of social media channels can be difficult to resist since millions of people frequent YouTube, Twitter and Facebook daily. However, if your targeted revenue generating audience doesn’t use these to source business then do not spend a lot of time in this area. It is vital that you create a marketing plan that is going to generate a return. 4. Make It Actionable/Measurable – Ensure that your revised goals are actionable. For example, let’s say you want to increase the number of widgets. That is a great goal, however this doesn’t provide the specific action item needed to accomplish the task. The revised item can state we will hire a qualified widget maker committed to making 500 widgets per day. Ideally, the overall objective is to create a goal that it is actionable and can be measured. 5. Accountability – Now that you revised your goals ensure that each item has a date and time you will to achieve your goals. If you have decided to increase your marketing, then you must decide what kind of strategic marketing you are going to explore and when you plan to execute the process. Now that you have revaluated your situation, it is time to execute the plan. As you see, time waits for no one and if you want to see the results you must implement these goals and hold yourself accountable immediately. As always, Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!
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How to Choose a Trademark Attorney to Register Your Trademark or Logo
By Gene Bolmarcich
F
or most established businesses, the most important asset is its brand. When one considers some of the most prominent brands today, it becomes clear that without the exclusive use its owner enjoys over it, by virtue of trademark laws, all goodwill that the business benefits from is lost. Whether it’s the main company brand, its logo, or one of the many other trademarks that a company uses in the marketplace to identify its various goods and services, protecting these valuable trademark assets is one of the most important things that any business should address. So where does one turn to ensure that its trademarks are protected to the maximum extent allowed by law? The process of getting this protection for a trademark in the United States involves registering the trademark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). There are several options.
One can turn to a law firm. This is certainly the most expensive option. Trademark attorneys at law firms generally charge by the hour and, depending on the size of the firm, hourly rates can range from $250 to $600. Given the uncertainties involved in the trademark registration process, this can add up to an unpleasant surprise when all is said and done. Unfortunately, a lot of people use the services of so-called document filers, including the giant of the industry, LegalZoom. This is never the right choice. It is a little known fact that these services do not in fact register your trademark. They merely file an application with the information that you provide to them without any legal review or follow-up. If you are thinking of using such a "garbage-in, garbage-out" service, you might as well save your money by cutting out the middleman and doing it yourself.
One can attempt to register a trademark on one’s own. In fact, anyone can represent oneself in any legal proceeding, but it is the rare individual who is willing to take on the challenge of "playing lawyer". The trademark registration process is fraught with potential snags that only an experienced trademark attorney can navigate. An experienced trademark attorney knows the law and the "tricks of the trade", and has had significant experience with the USPTO - thus being in a position to most accurately evaluate the outcome of choices to be made and arguments to present in order to get the ultimate prize of a registered trademark for her client. So, now that it is clear that an experienced trademark attorney is the smart choice, how do you find one? There are many trademark attorneys with websites through which you can engage the attorney to initiate a trademark application. There are several key things to look for. A description of each of these follows. Look for a "Real" Flat Fee While many trademark registration attorneys will advertise a flat fee, be very careful about this claim. The vast majority of so-called flat fee trademark registration services excludes certain work, and will instead charge an hourly rate for this excluded work. The most significant work charged by the hour is the work involved in responding to "substantive" office actions issued by the USPTO. It is very common for the USPTO to at least issue an initial refusal to register your trademark based on one of the many statutory provisions of the trademark law that place restrictions of what may and may not be registered as a trademark. Responding to these office actions can be a very time consuming process. You want to be sure that this is included in the advertised flat fee. Virtually always, it is not. Other categories of work are similarly very often excluded from the flat fee, including submitting certain types of evidence, filing certain necessary forms during "prosecution" (i.e. the registration process) and including more than one class of goods and services in the trademark application. Be Sure That Your Trademark Will be Thoroughly Searched A necessary step in the trademark registration process is the trademark search. This maximizes the chances that your trademark will not be refused due to a prior conflicting trademark or that there are any prior common-law trademark rights owners that can take legal
action against you even if you are able to register your trademark. You want to be sure that you obtain a comprehensive search that includes not only a search for identical trademarks that are registered but also common law trademarks, business names, domain names, and most importantly, any trademark that may not be identical yet nonetheless will be considered "confusingly similar" to yours. For example, in a recent decision of the court that reviews decisions of the USPTO, the trademark JOTS (for gelatin based alcohol based "shots") was deemed to be confusingly similar to the trademark TOTT’S (for champagne). Only a good trademark search performed by an experienced trademark attorney would have discovered this issue before any money was wasted on the process. Make Sure That the Attorney Has Significant Experience Registering Trademarks This is perhaps obvious but you should still be sure you know whom you are working with. You’ll want to see that the trademark attorney’s credentials are detailed on her website. You should also look for an attorney who is willing to provide free consultations and who offers multiple means of communicating with her (email, phone, forms, etc.). For the fixed fee, a trademark attorney should be willing to spend as much time communicating with you as necessary. The trademark registration process is a very collaborative one where the attorney will often need much information from you in order to do the job in a way that maximizes your chances of obtaining your trademark registration. This often requires a lot of back and forth between the attorney and the client. A good trademark attorney is skilled at explaining sometimes confusing aspects of trademark law and practice in a clear and concise manner for you. Armed with this knowledge, you are ready to start protecting your company’s most valuable assets. Gene Bolmarcich, Esq. is a trademark attorney and the Owner of The Law Offices of Gene Bolmarcich and has registered trademarks for over 22 years. He offers a virtual trademark registration service at www.trademarksa2r.com and serves a global clientele. Gene may be reached by email at tmlawyer@trademarksa2r.com. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz. com.
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I Say Tomayto ; You Say Tomahto
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“Did she really say ‘I had seent him’?”
By Shanedria Wagner Contributing Writer “Did she really say ‘I had seent him’?” thinks a cringing witness of the butchering of “seen”, who might gasp, stifle snickers, or silently correct the error. Conversely, the gauche might rudely blurt the correct elocution with no regard for the bruised ego of the mortified speaker; those who welcome constructive criticism likely welcome the tweak as long as it is offered discreetly. Heated debates, that ensue when two parties disagree over pronunciation, sometimes end by, “You say tomayto. I say tomahto.” In this instance, neither is incorrect, because there are two accepted pronunciations of a handful of words such as tomato, potato, pecan, and amen. Though articulation is often a toss up, the list of words with dual pronunciations is not as vast as one might imagine; our speaking style should not always be a matter of preference or dialect. At times, it’s a matter of savoir faire. Pronunciation mistakes, especially among professionals, should be avoided. Clueless, we add or eliminate syllables, stress the wrong syllable, mispronounce vowels and consonants, or use inventive vocabulary. Penned to empower, this column offers an overview of each aforementioned pronunciation mistake. Liked, ants, and loved, which are one-syllable-words, are sometimes pronounced with two: liked-ed, ants-es, and loved-ed. Electoral, exemplary, and paraplegic, four-syllable words, are often extended by one syllable, pronounced e-lec-tor-re-al, ex-em-pla-ra-ry, and pa-ra-pa-le-gic. Mischievous, contrary to popular practice, has three, not four, syllables; it should not sound like mis-
chee-vee-us. Equally critical is the shortening of words like supremacist, a four-syllable word that is often reduced to three: supre-mist. Syrup, a two-syllable word, is often mispronounced as if it rhymes with slurp. When we emphasize the wrong syllable, we alter a word’s intended flow. For instance, the planet Uranus is emphasized on the first, not the second syllable. The same is true for orator, pastoral, and mischievous. The mispronunciation of vowels and consonants also results in many errors. L-i-v-e-d, in long-lived, for example, is pronounced with a long “I”, rhyming with dived. The first three letters of zoology are not pronounced like “zoo”; the first two letters, conversely, rhyme with “no” and are followed by “ology”. Also frequently mispronounced is height; though ending in the letter “t”, it is often pronounced as if it ends with “th”. Finally, the last syllable of orangutan is often pronounced with a final “g” sound, which makes it rhyme with rang. It should be pronounced tan. Perhaps the most humorous mispronunciations are those not ordinarily found in the dictionary - inventive vocabulary. Seent, impactful, complected, and conversate are among these nonstandard, yet widely used, words. So, if you genuinely want to pinpoint a pronunciation error to be helpful, consider the following. 1.Connect before you correct. Try to correct those with whom you have a rapport. 2.Respect when you correct. Remember that a sincere, polite tone will be better received than a nitpicky disposition. 3.Expect when you correct. Don’t correct if you cannot stand to be corrected. Expect to be corrected. Correction precedes perfection. For more information on Precise Pronunciation, visit www.shanwag.com.
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