Making The Right Moves To Start Your Business

Making The Right Moves To Start Your Business
In today's business world, having a business online or the
old fashioned way with a physical location both could use
the benefits of having a well built website. You can always
gather information, tips, and online assistance to build a
successful website that can take your business to the next
level. Now there are different areas that you can focus on
when building a website to give it full potential. You
especially need to focus on appearance, quality content,
easy understanding and navigation along with great products
and affiliate links. I'm gonna go over a little breakdown
of what moves to make and what is required to start your
own home based business online.

One of the most important things to start with arguably
would be getting a good product. This is very important
because you can actually make money online without having a
website. If you have a good product from an affiliate that
provides a website for the product, you can make money. To
get more professional and in depth with your business, you
should then start developing your own website for profits
online. Make sure your landing page gives distinct visuals
on what you offer and how it can help people. Focus on your
theme. Make sure your design fits your product or business.
If you sell gospel tickets, you don't want a website with
urban grafitti or background colors that are dark and
hardcore on the site.

Once you get a good product followed by a professional
website, it's now time to get a funded proposal. A funded
proposal is a product or service used by business owners to
raise money so they can pay for all the advertising,
promotion, and operations of the primary business. A good
product or company to use for this is Global Domains
International. GDI is a great funded proposal because it's
free to join and it provides your own website on your own
domain name. They have a unique product which is a brand
new website extension of .ws instead of having the ever
popular .com or .net extensions. GDI also has an affiliate
membership program that is very cheap to maintain and pays
you $1.00 for every referral that signs up under you. If
you sponsor 5 people in a one week period, GDI pays you a
$100 bonus extra on top of your regular commissions. The
membership is $10.00 a month so once you sponsor 10 people
your membership will be paid for by commissions and you
never have to come out of your pocket. Use all the extra
money earned from GDI and put it into your primary
business. Spend wise and make smart decisions on marketing
your website to gain massive income right from home.

Once you get everything rolling smoothly you get a residual
paying windmill that always rotate and keep going. With
this type of residual income you can start other ventures
or spend more time with loved ones doing fun stuff. Either
way, having a business that pays you residually is the way
to go. It guarantees your financial freedom.

----------------------------------------------------
About the Author-----------------Jeff Jefferson has tips
and motivation to succeed in home business. To see
recommended programs of success visit -----------
http://www.MyOwnBusinessSite.com

The mind-boggling power of a print newsletter

The mind-boggling power of a print newsletter
This weekend I attended a local Glazer Kennedy Inner Circle
meeting. These are localized chapters of the Dan
Kennedy/Bill Glazer marketing and advertising team. A
diverse group of all industries and all levels of expertise
in the direct response market.

I spoke for some of the meeting on writing holiday
promotions that make you money and make your clients fall
in love with your approach. Simple letters you can send
out at any time of the year that make new sales, reactivate
old clients, or just to say hi and keep in touch.

Rita was there are shared a story of the results she has
seen using simple print newsletters to grow their
automotive business.

5 months ago:

-They run an automotive repair business on their farm
-They have a number of employees
-They do not live near a town or city no local nearby
population to draw from
-They had never really kept much of a database
-People have to drive for miles to visit their shop and get
their car repaired

She starts working with Ron Ipach, who is a long time Dan
Kennedy student, who now teaches automotive shops how to
use good marketing techniques in their business.

One of the techniques taught is in the power of print
newsletters.

Rita started her first print letter 5 months ago.

4 pages Jokes Facts Trivia Cartoons Specials on repair work

GET THIS: she bought a list of addresses surrounding her
(quite a wide circle out in the country). She has no names
just the addresses of these people. Bought 5,000 names to
mail to. Once a month the 4 page print newsletter gets
mailed cold to these names.

The point is she has no list to mail to a completely cold
list that had never even heard of her before this is
important as you will soon see.

It costs her $0.10 to print each and $0.10 to mail each
(unaddressed ' bulk mail)

So her total outlay per month is $1,000 to mail to 5,000
homes. ($5,000 total to mail the newsletter each month for
5 months). Her results:

OVER $200,000 in new business! Over 250 new clients!

With a simple print newsletter. Now, if Rita can do this
with a completely COLD list what can you be doing with your
own client database? Imagine what is possible if you put
this same investment out there every month.

200 thousand dollars from a 5 thousand dollar investment.
For every $1 she invests, she gets $40 back into the
business.

So, do I have your attention yet? Do you see how powerful
and profitable this is?

When will you start doing it then?

----------------------------------------------------
Troy White, The Marketing Results Mentor and Expert
Copywriter helps clients achieve HUGE growth surges in
their business in very short periods of time. If you're an
entrepreneur in need of quick cash flow surges ' here is
the quick-hit solution to put money in your bank.... The
Wild West Wealth Summit! Make sure you visit
http://www.WildWestWealth.com or sign up for the Free Cash
Flow Surge Newsletter at http://www.CashFlowSurges.com

Anyone Can Sell Anything With The Right ATTITUDE

Anyone Can Sell Anything With The Right ATTITUDE
So many people out there think that selling ability is a
God given gift or talent. This couldn't be further from
the truth. The reality is that ANYONE can sell. Selling is
a learned skill that requires no special gift or abilities.

While at the gas station yesterday a gentleman struck up a
conversation with me. He was admiring my car and asked what
I did for a living. He said that he would do what ever it
takes if it meant he could drive a BMW like mine. I thanked
him for the compliment as I chuckled, then I told him I
was in sales. He proceeded to inquire about how I got
started in sales and what products I sold. I told him that
I started 8 years ago by selling pizza coupons door to
door. His jaw dropped to the floor! He said "No Way
Really?? I could never do that!"

Just 15 seconds earlier he was willing to do anything to
own a car like mine but now, all of a sudden he's freaked
out because I said "Door to Door sales" I asked him why he
felt that way and he said he just couldn't muster up the
courage to approach a stranger and strike up a
conversation. Obviously my response to that was... "Where
have we met again?" He laughed and said "I get your point."

The fact is that we sell ourselves everyday. We talk to
strangers everyday and we influence other peoples decisions
everyday. These things are a part of life but when the
average person contemplates doing it for a living, the fear
of failure sets in. People are inherently afraid of
rejection and failure and that fear usually precludes them
from ever getting ahead in life. It precludes them from
taking risks and starting new endeavors. It sadly keeps
them in a miserable rut and they usually just end up
envying those that took a chance to do something they
themselves weren't even willing to try.

I noticed that the young man was wearing a wedding band on
his finger and I mentioned "I see that you're married..."
He said he's been married for 2 years. I then said "See,
you are a salesman after all, you got her to marry you!"
He laughed in agreement then finished pumping his gas and
waved so long.

Anyone can learn to be an expert sales person if they have
a coach or mentor and put in the time and effort. There is
only one prerequisite.... You Must Have A Good Attitude.

Does that sound corny? It may, but it is a fact! Here's the
deal... I can teach you the 5 steps to a sale, I can teach
you the factors of impulse. I can teach you how to raise
impulse. I can teach you how to close the deal. I can teach
you how to up-sell, how to work a territory correctly and
how to manage a team. I can even tech you how to maintain a
positive attitude when your having a bad day.

But do you want to know the one thing no one can teach you?
It's how to HAVE a positive attitude. Notice I used the
word HAVE. Many people out there have written books on how
you should "fake it to make it" and essentially how you
should "pretend" to be a positive person. I hate to break
it to you but, Attitude Is Not A Light Switch! You can't
just turn it on and off when you please.

To be successful at sales all you need is a positive frame
of mind and an optimistic attitude! "When you fix whats on
the inside... everything on the outside fixes itself." Your
attitude boils down to a simple choice: Do you want to live
a positive life or a negative life? Make the decision and
follow through. Your positivity will be contagious and it
will attract more positive people. These are the people
that will like you, trust you and BUY FROM YOU with just a
simple nudge in the right direction!

----------------------------------------------------
Omar Martin is a sales expert dedicated to training and
developing high performance sales leaders in every
industry. His sales experience, skill level and coaching
ability has enabled him to build huge power-selling teams
of door to door and telemarketing sales experts across the
United States. He posts free sales advice and products on:
http://www.omar-martin.com
http://www.HighPerformanceSalesSecrets.com

Are you a Worker Bee?

Are you a Worker Bee?
In my business, I am constantly redefining myself, my
services and my products in order to stay ahead of or at
least keep up with the ever changing industry of marketing.
If I don't bring fresh new ideas and material to my clients
and contacts on an ongoing basis, then someone else will.

To stay at the forefront, I spend a significant amount of
my time working "on" my business, not just "in" it. That
means, instead of always consulting with clients, I lock
myself up with my computer and write up my ideas, products,
figure out how to market them, get them on my website or
decide how to offer them to my clients.

I wanted to bring this to your attention this week because
I see hundreds of small business owners and entrepreneurs
each month who are struggling to "get it all done".

You know what I mean.

What I've found is that most entrepreneurs are not taking
the time to work "on" their businesses, only struggle and
stress out "in" it.

These same entrepreneurs are not open to learning new
techniques about marketing, learning new industry
standards, keeping their website and marketing materials
current or even get out and meet new people to build
relationships with to further their business. Or it may be
that they're open to it but they don't see it as a
necessary enough thing to fit into their schedule.

Hopefully this doesn't sound familiar to you. But if it
does....

I'm here to tell you I've seen a large percentage of those
businesses go OUT OF BUSINESS by not focusing on the BIG
PICTURE.

We all know the stats on how many businesses go out of
business these days but with all the great info out there
now (including my own resources - some paid, some FR.EE),
it boggles my mind why they don't do something about this.

Here are some action steps you can take to work more "ON"
your business, easily and immediately:

1. Schedule 1 day each month as "Creative" Day
This day you will do nothing but sit and write down all the
ideas that come to mind about how you can update or
increase your business, who you know that you can work with
on joint ventures, etc.

2. Schedule another day each month as "Implement" Day
This day you will do nothing but put those ideas into
action - updating the text on your websites, writing and
sending out a press release, planning your next workshop
with flyer development, etc.

3. Contact 2-5 other professionals
These are people that you trust and ask them their
perception of your business and ask them for ideas or
feedback on what you could do to update it, freshen it up,
revise it, change it or add to it

There is a pretty good article I recently read on
Entrepreneur.com that might also help with your time
management (this is my biggest challenge as well, you're
not alone). It's "8 Ways to Keep Your Homebased Business
Running Smoothly - If you're well on your way to homebased
business success, these management tips will help you stay
on top of your game." Read the article now.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/worklifebalance/art
icle76888.html

----------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2008 K.Sawa Marketing
Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Relationship Marketing
Coach who's helped hundreds of small business owners take
dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next
level in business, revenues and life. She offers one-on-one
coaching, group coaching and do-it-yourself marketing
planning products. Go online now to get started with her
Free Report and Free Audio at
http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com !

Switch On Your Business's Fat Burning Machine

Switch On Your Business's Fat Burning Machine
Suppose, for a moment, that building a business was as easy
as... - Clearing our your distractions - Setting your focus
- Pulling your team together - Focusing your attention on
your high payoff activities

"Well, of course." You might say. "If it were that easy, no
one would be stalled. But it's never that easy. Building a
business is just hard work. There's NO way around it."

That's the conventional wisdom and perhaps it's your belief
about it too. Yet this 'wisdom' has resulted in business
owners and professionals feeling buried by all they need to
accomplish.

My client, Brian, needed 15 minutes to review his To Do
List. It had all the things Conventional Wisdom told him
were the activities he 'must' get done to build his
business. When I asked him to estimate the time it would
take to achieve them, it totaled 357% of the hours in a
week.

His business was getting accomplished but his attention was
constantly pulled back to that list. Like a huge layer of
fat, the weight of the list was dragging on him every hour
of the day, every step he took.

If your list looks like Brian's, then Conventional Wisdom
on building a business has failed you for one simple
reason...

You're Working Too Hard At Building Your Business!

What's probably going on? You've got a mind full of chatter
about all the tasks that need doing, solving, adding to,
judging, distracting you from honing in on the few High
Payoff Activities that WILL move your business forward NOW!

Maybe, just maybe, there's a simpler, better way to build
your business. The better way I'm referring to is easy to
achieve if you'll treat your business like your metabolism
and burn off the fat.

Follow the High Payoff Processes that burn off the fat and
get you focused exactly where you need to be. Here are the
steps:

List everything, just once Grab a fresh piece of paper and
clear out the looooong long list that's been hanging on
your mind. You'll find a really useful form for it HERE.
It's the first step I use with all my Platinum Coaching
Clients to get them focused. When you use it daily you'll
see the list shrink and the weight starts to drop right off
your shoulders.

Divide that list into the FEW top To Dos you'll achieve
today The quickest way to do it is using the 4-in-1 form
you'll find here. My coaching clients love it as they use
it to get a handle on exactly what they'll put in action
and accomplish. Brian commented that at first it felt like
his list was 'too short'. Now it feels like a cheer for
what he knows he's going to get done that day!

Plan every action and every meeting before you step into it
I know one of the habits we get into is lugging all the
extra weight of our To Dos with us into meetings. If any of
them are hanging on you, you need to burn them off before
you walk into any meeting. Focus your attention on the
purpose of the meeting, your preparation for it, and
exactly what you want to accomplish ' 100% of your
attention on it before you take the meeting.

Limit every meeting to 20 minutes Open every meeting by
stating the purpose. You'll find all the wandering
conversations melt away. Is there a goal to be set? Set it.
An obstacle to remove? Focus the entire conversation on
defining the issue clearly so that an action plan can be
set. Note Any additional ideas that come up on a Parking
Lot sheet and assign it to another discussion.

Delegate everything else! As you go through your day, new
ideas and issues will crop up. Don't let them hang on you
and weigh you down. Put them on our 4-in-1 sheet so you'll
know that you'll get them solved today or tomorrow, or
delegate them now to someone else. Otherwise they're a wish
and a hope and need to be moved onto your brainstorming
list and out of your attention.

Peel off the To Dos you were never going to get to. Get
your attention trimmed and in focus on what really needs
doing. Loose the fat flip the switch and light a fire
inside you and your business!

Just like Brian, if you follow these simple steps, you'll
turn into a business building machine.

----------------------------------------------------
Management expert, consultant, and coach Linda Feinholz is
"Your High payoff Catalyst." Linda publishes the free
weekly newsletter The Spark! to subscribers world-wide and
delivers targeted solutions, practical skills and simple
ways to build your business. If you're ready to focus on
your High Payoff activities, accelerate your results and
have more fun at it, get your FREE tips like these visit
her site at http://www.YourHighPayoffCatalyst.com

Automating Appointment Scheduling

Automating Appointment Scheduling
One of the great promises of the digital age is to free
people from mundane and routine tasks so they can work on
more interesting projects. The human brain allows us to
reason and think creatively in ways that machines can't (at
least not yet). Unfortunately, many people are still
performing tasks that are repetitive and, frankly, better
done by machines or, in this case, a computer.

In this article, I'm going to talk about automating the
appointment scheduling process. This applies to you if
you're a hair stylist, a dentist, a massage therapist, an
oil change shop, a psychologist, a plumber, or anyone who
sets appointments with clients. By automating the
appointment scheduling process, you can free your
receptionist to work on more interesting, revenue-producing
tasks while providing exceptional service to your clients
or customers.

An online appointment scheduling service allows you to set
available appointments and allows your clients to schedule
appointments whenever they choose within the times you set.
You can be notified of new appointments via email.

One service allows you offer coupon codes to customers as
an excellent form of customer retention.

In a larger operation with multiple providers, you can
setup accounts for each provider allowing your clients to
choose their provider or take the first available
appointment regardless of provider.

The scheduling service will automatically send your
customer reminders and, if they need to change or cancel
their appointment, they can do it all online.

Other features available include a way for you to rate your
customers as to their punctuality or missed appointments.

Pricing ranges from free (GenBook) to $10/month and higher,
depending on the features you want. At a price of free,
it's definitely worth checking out to see if it will even
work for you. You could try setting it up in a test with a
few select clients to see how they like it and whether you
like it or not. You could run it side-by-side with your
paper and ink appointment scheduling system for a month or
two to see if it works for you and then make the decision
about whether or not to make the switch. The really cool
thing about it is that you can still take appointments over
the phone; you just enter them in the appointment
scheduling website instead of in your old-fashioned paper
planner. For your clients who are web-savvy, however, they
can make and manage their appointments with you 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. All you have to do is provide your
service and collect your fee! (Some of the services will
even collect your fee for you by accepting credit cards
online. I LOVE it when money just shows up magically in my
business account!)

Here are some links to appointment scheduling sites:

www.appointmentquest.com
www.zappointments.com
www.genbook.com
www.web-appointments.com

There are actually many more services like these. Just
Google on "appointment scheduling service" if you want to
check out more of them.

----------------------------------------------------
President and chief technologist at Seattle,
Washington-based IT training firm soundtraining.net, Don is
a speaker, writer, and veteran IT guy with over 35 years
experience in technology for the workplace. Today, he
delivers keynote speeches, workshops, and seminars to
business people on how to go digital without going postal.
Call him at 206.988.5858. He's online at
http://www.doncrawley.com and blogs at
http://www.digitalnotpostal.com .

Nokia N95 - Smartphone for Maps, Music, Games and much more

Nokia N95 - Smartphone for Maps, Music, Games and much more
Would you believe that there is a portable device on the
market which encompasses GPS functionality, has a built in
5 mega pixel digital camera with Carl Ziess and Tessar
optics, WI-FI wireless Internet connection, Bluetooth, MP3
player and of course covers your every communication need?
When it comes to packing features with optimum performance,
the Nokia N95 delivers.

The Nokia N95 is the newest edition and the most advanced
3G smart phone of the Nokia N series built on a series 60
Symbian interface topped with up to 160 MB internal dynamic
memory for messages, ring tones, images, video clips,
calendar notes, to-do list and applications. The Nokia N95
boasts an impressive screen measuring 2.6 inches across,
240 x 320 pixels in an unbelievable 16 million colors! The
ambient light detector adjusts the lighting depending on
your environment which allows for screen-visibility in most
lighting conditions.

The built in GPS navigation system offers up-to-date Maps
covering more than 100 countries. Through the Nokia N95
navigational system there are brilliant colored maps, route
planning, and a sizeable points-of-interest database. The
GPS calculates the total distance, time, speed, etc. In
order to use the GPS function you must purchase the upgrade
which is downloaded into your device for an additional
$91.93 for a year license or $11.81 per month. The software
and maps are basically free for as many devices as you
choose to upload it on. The idea is that detailed street
maps of virtually the entire world are made available for
free, along with route calculation and display of your GPS
position. There is the option to have all maps stored on
your expansion card or download them as needed over GPRS or
3G data - you decide which is a more practical method for
you.

Aside from the GPS navigation system, other wireless
options include integrated Bluetooth capabilities, WI-FI,
and an infrared port. The web-browser allows you to view
HTML web pages on the Internet, displaying the original
design. You can also browse web pages specifically designed
for mobile devices, and use XHTML or the Wireless Markup
Language (WML).

One of the most attractive features of the Nokia N95 is the
5 mega pixel camera with world renowned Carl Ziess lens and
Tessar optics. The camera application has a number of
extras, which include 4 ISO settings, contrast plus
sharpness adjustment, and an enhanced burst mode (now with
gaps of up to 15 minutes). The video camera is also quite
impressive with recording capabilities in VGA resolution
(640 x 480 pixels) at up to 30 frames per second with
stereo audio. In addition, there is second front-facing
camera for making video calls with a conferencing option.
Supported video formats include MPEG-4, H.264/AVC,
H.263/3GPP, RealVideo 8/9/10. Included with the Nokia N95
is the Nokia Video Connectivity Cable for direct connection
and compatibility to your television.

Through the XpressMusic branding, Nokia has sought to
emphasize the music capabilities of its Nseries portfolio.
The Nokia N95 music player is easy to use and can be
controlled by the directional pad or slide-out, or
front-side buttons to navigate through your music
selection. Included is a microSD (TransFlash) card slot
that can support cards of up to 2GB in size, and should
provide enough space for approximately 500 tracks
(depending on length, formatting and encoding). The slot
also supports hot-swapping, meaning the user is no longer
required to having a card dedicated to music usage. The N95
contains the standard Nseries/Nokia S60 radio player. To
operate the radio, you must plug in a headset or the remote
control. Sound can then be channeled through the phone's
loudspeakers or the 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and TV-out
support jack. There is the 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and
TV out support (PAL/NTSC). If you happen to be a Sandisk
MP3 owner, it is noted on Sandisk website that its 4 GB
micro-SDHC card is compatible with the Nokia N95.

With 160 GB of memory one can save an abundance of photos
and videos on this multi-media device. The gallery
interface is designed to list all of the photos and videos
which can be found in internal memory and on a memory card.
You have the option of viewing the small thumbnails, or
clicking on each one individually. The file manager allows
you to browse through all your media files with ease where
you have the luxury of landscape browsing with its unique
2-way slide design feature that allows you to transition
quickly between a multimedia-computer to a player.

Above all, the Nokia N95 is a high quality and efficient
phone and messenger. This multimedia device can cost you up
to $750. Some of the best prices can be sought out through
online retailers or Canadian price comparison sites. The
Nokia N95 is built for the user who can appreciate this
feature-packed device- a true specimen of the latest
technologies!

----------------------------------------------------
For more information about the Nokia N95 and to compare
prices in Canada visit: http://www.deal-eh.ca/

Entrepreneurial Woman: Your Most Valuable Resource

Entrepreneurial Woman: Your Most Valuable Resource
What is your most valued resource as an entrepreneur?

If you're like many others, your first reaction to this
question is most likely going to generate ideas about
making more money. A word like resources seems like it
would imply as having to do with gaining more material
wealth. However, resources are those things which make what
you do more effective; so generally it allows your business
to be more rewarding and purposeful.

No, it isn't just simply about the money. It's about you
doing what you do because it fulfills you; it brings
meaning to your life. Contrary to what many may think,
material wealth doesn't do that for you. Sure, it may make
it more comfortable in certain aspects, however as far as
meaning and fulfillment goes, there's the big difference.
As an adult, what you need are more mature elements of
incentive, not just something to ply yourself with to get
things done. What successful women are after is achievement
and accomplishment. They are after purposeful actions that
bring with them authentic and desirable results.

Here's the thing: if it's purely about making the money in
order to get more stuff, what does it matter what you do?
Whether you are a corporate executive, street-sweeper or
business owner, it's all the same to you because the main
objective is to make money.

Is that how you think?

The word "resources" literally means, " that to which one
resorts, or on which one depends for supply or support."
Money is part of your resource pool, but it is a very small
fraction of it. The mistake that many make is relying
heavily upon it, and figuring it to be their only or main
resource. This perception is limiting to your business, and
to you personally. Generally speaking, it's a weakness; a
liability. That brings us back to the question, "What is
your most valuable resource?"

What do you do when something breaks down, or you need help
figuring something out? You call somebody. What do you do
when you need to gain a new skill? You find somebody that
will teach it to you. Where do you go to offer your
products and services? Why, people of course! People
supply you with the means to accomplish all that you need
to do. Next to motivation, they are the bulk of your pool
of resources. There is always someone else in the picture
of your success, by and largely, a great many others are
inside of this picture.

In a world of automatic this and instant that, people it
seems are becoming more and more irrelevant, but this is
very far from being true. Without others you have no
business to run, or any possibility of goal accomplishment.
Yes, generally speaking people do make the world go around.

Your success, business as well as personally will greatly
depend upon your ability to respect, relate to, communicate
with, seek help from, develop rapport with, understand and
appreciate others. It is easy to glibly mouth "yes" to
acceptance and appreciation of others. However, here are a
few questions for reflection: Are you authentic, or just
out for what you can get? Do you respect those who help
you, if so how are you demonstrating this? Are you
building lasting, meaningful relationships, or are your
connections only relative to your means?

Many entrepreneurs get stifled by the "people issue." We
tend to like our solitude and revel in our quest for total
independence, but every successful person to have ever
lived had someone else in the picture. Just because you
didn't notice them, doesn't mean they weren't there.

----------------------------------------------------
Aunice Reed is a Professional Success Coach and NLP Master
Specialist, specializing in Women's Personal Achievement &
Self-Discovery Work. Visit:
http://www.myunlimitedsuccess.com to learn more about her
practice.

Mileage Log - A Powerful New Tool

Mileage Log - A Powerful New Tool
What is a digital mileage log? It's a great new gadget
which is going to make logging your mileage easier than
ever. It's also a nearly fail safe way to prevent being
audited by the IRS for mileage write offs. With gas prices
soaring to new levels in recent months, gas mileage write
offs are becoming more widely used. In this article you'll
learn how a gadget like this can be handy for your business.

In the past a mileage log was simply a piece of paper that
could be printed out or handwritten. You would
painstakingly have to hand input all the mileage you've
used for the day. This made it tough for anyone who was
required to travel often, including daily. It is also easy
to incorrectly enter data that could trigger an IRS audit
over actually miles you've driven. As the price of gas goes
up so does the IRS's interest in gas write offs. This may
leave one asking how do you protect yourself.

Well there is a good way to protect yourself, and it comes
in the form of a handy device no larger than a GPS or cell
phone. It's called a mileage logger and while there aren't
many model types on the market rest assured they'll save
you a lot of headaches. This device is used to log mileage
to a database automatically and is actually quite accurate.
When you jump into your vehicle to go to your next business
meeting, you'd just plug this small device into your
cigarette lighter, just like a GPS. It then begins logging
your mileage but not just by how many miles you drive, but
by your exact location!

Consequently, how does this device work? As mentioned
before you plug the device into your cigarette lighter.
Next a satellite in space picks up your exact earth
location. The strategic location is then beamed from your
vehicle to a cellular tower, where it's then sent to a
private online database where your information can be
picked up when you're ready to retrieve it. When you go to
retrieve your mileage log you simply log into your database
panel and print it out. You'll be able to print out your
data by exact date, including month, day, year. So
essential you could leave your data alone and just print it
out once at the year's end and before tax time. For some
people this device could literally feel like a life saver
as it would finally eliminate the tedious task of manually
logging their mileage. This type of device graciously helps
cut down on audits because it fully logs you're routes,
allows you to add comments to your logs and more.

Only you could know if a device like this would be useful.
If you take one business trip a year, then this type of
product may not be helpful at all. It may be helpful if you
take at least one business trip a month as you'd never have
to physically write anything down again. The usefulness
alone may make a digital mileage log worth the price.

----------------------------------------------------
Michael Brown
Learn about the digital mileage log.
http://michaelsbrown.com/electronic-mileage-log-manual-is-de
ad/
View the marketing and business blog.
http://michaelsbrown.com

Workers Comp Misclassifications Cost Companies Millions

Workers Comp Misclassifications Cost Companies Millions
Article 2 of the 6 part series: The 6 Things Every
Employer Must Know About Workers' Compensation Insurance

The Million Dollar Question

How do you know if your business or organization is being
charged the correct amount for workers compensation
insurance? I'm not talking about whether or not you think
your premium is too high. I'm asking what procedure do you
have in place to confirm that what your business actually
does is properly reflected in your rate classification?
I'm waiting...OK that's what I thought.

Does This Describe Your Company?

When you first went into the widget making business you
realized that if you were going to have employees, you were
going to have to purchase workers compensation insurance.
(If you didn't realize it now would be a good time to read
my previous article). So you called your insurance agent
and said you were about to hire your first employee. Your
agent had always done a great job on your car insurance so
you figured she's probably an expert at workers comp
insurance as well. The agent came out and looked around
your new business. She then consulted her trusty workers
comp rating manual from XYZ insurance company and picked
one of the available 330 classifications approved by the
Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau (PCRB) and assigned
it to your business. The insurance company then charged
you a premium based on your classification and your
payroll. End of story right?

Now It's 10 Years Later

Congratulations! Not only have you remained in business
for 10 years you've really prospered. Now instead of just
one employee, you have 50. And boy has your business
changed. No longer do you just make widgets, you
distribute, install, and service them. In fact, you don't
really manufacture them at all. Five years ago you decided
it was cheaper to outsource the manufacturing part of the
business. Throughout this time your agent checked in with
you and steadily increased your payroll as your number of
employees increased. But she hasn't walked through your
facility in 10 years and doesn't understand that your
business has fundamentally changed. Therefore, you're
still paying your workers comp premiums based on a
manufacturing rate. Think a manufacturing rate might be
higher than a service rate?

Isn't Misclassification Pretty Uncommon?

NO! In fact there are companies out there that do nothing
but audit organizations' workers comp premiums looking for
mistakes. The industry consensus is that anywhere from
60%-75% of all companies have some sort of miscalculation
figured into their premium.

What Could that Mean to My Organization?

Let's assume that the rate for widget manufacturing is $8
for every $100 of payroll. We'll further assume that 40 of
your 50 employees are currently classified as such and as a
group represent $1,200,000 of payroll. Your unadjusted
workers comp premium for this group would be $96,000 per
year. But what if your employees were properly classified
at the lesser widget service rate? For this example we'll
assume the rate to service widgets is $5 for every $100 of
payroll. Well, you just saved yourself $36,000 a year.
Multiply that by the number of years you've been
misclassified and you may break down in tears!

How Can I Prevent This From Happening?

The answer here is twofold: (1) Partner with an insurance
provider who doesn't forget about you as soon as they write
your insurance policies. (2) Make sure that your provider
understands the nuances of workers compensation insurance
and is proactive in monitoring your account. In our
example above, the agent did check-in periodically to
update your company's payroll. But she didn't realize that
the business had changed and that a re-classification was
in order. A costly and unnecessary mistake!

So What Can You Do Now?

Next week I will be publishing a follow up article showing
how you can find out if this has happened to your company
and also how you can recoup some of your money. Until
then, feel free to contact me using the information below.

----------------------------------------------------
Eric D. Patrick, is an attorney and Chief Operating Officer
of Consumers Insurance Agency Inc.
http://www.consumers-insurance.com . He is involved in two
law practices and engages in insurance and legal consulting
through his RiskAssure Consulting Group
http://www.ThatsNotCovered.com . Please contact him for
further information.

A better way to solve problems

A better way to solve problems
How much time do you spend in meetings, dealing with
problems and knowing that the solution finally agreed upon
is merely adequate at best? If you find yourself wasting
valuable time in seemingly pointless meetings or find that
the intelligent and experienced people you have brought
together do not deliver the results you expected, then it
is worth considering a different approach. Businesses
depend on meetings to make decisions, solve problems and
share information. Getting the right people in the room is
only the beginning of being able to work together
effectively.

Cocreative problem solving is a facilitated approach to
complex problem solving that guides and supports
participants through the process of integrating facts,
opinions, values, hypotheses and questions into a
collectively inspired solution. It differs from the usual
approach in which problems are fragmented and simplified
through a pseudo-democratic 'group-think' in which only
ideas with consensus agreement go forward. This lacks
creativity and is rarely satisfactory or successful in
providing sustainable solutions to complex or difficult
problems. Can you really deliver on expectations with a
lowest common denominator approach to problem-solving?

Cocreative problem solving facilitates the emergence of
solutions that are not obtainable through logical/cognitive
thinking alone, by bringing into the process insights,
intuition and knowledge that is usually only accessible in
other contexts. The underlying principle is that
participants engaged in the problem solving process have
all the necessary competencies and knowledge to find a
sustainable solution to their problem and all that is
needed is trust and a shift in perspective to allow the
solution to emerge. The role of the facilitator is to
create a mutually supportive environment in which ideas can
be generated and challenged through deepening levels of
questioning and reflection.

Most importantly, cocreated solutions do not lack any of
the traditional goals of efficiency, productivity and
profitability, but will in addition always incorporate
meaning, motivation and values. It is a whole system
process, rather than the left-brained (logical and
analytical) processes we have tended towards since the
industrial revolution and is the result of decades of study
into the behaviours and attributes of knowledge-building
communities.

Cocreative problem solving can be used in any situation in
which a group of people are willing to work together and
can achieve rapid results from new and functionally diverse
teams. It can be exciting, fun, challenging and altogether
more satisfying than the usual process. However, if there
are significant trust issues within the group we would
advise that these are addressed first.

----------------------------------------------------
Yolanda Dolling helps businesses reduce costs and increase
sales through partnership and collaboration.
For more on how to grow your business without destroying
yourself or the planet, go to:
http://www.advizory.com

Leveraging Shipping Referrals

Leveraging Shipping Referrals
A popular and simple, yet quite effective advertising
method is shipping referrals. In fact, you have probably
participated in this as a consumer without even realizing
it.

Let's say that you simply love candles. You have candles
in every room of your house. Now, you have found this
really amazing company who offers beautiful candles for the
most incredible bargain basement prices you have ever seen.
While filling out the order form, you see a little note
telling you that by showing just five people the candles
you ordered, that you will qualify for a box of free
candles. Once your order of candles arrive, you show them
to five of your friends and submit their names to this
company. The company sends them a catalog, sometimes along
with a free sample, which encourages them to buy their own
candles. This is called a shipping referral. You can see
how easily this works and also the potential for a high
degree of effectiveness. The fact that it really is quite
inexpensive for the company, only costing them a catalog
and a sample candle, also makes this an attractive
advertising method.

Another way that shipping referrals can be used is through
different companies themselves. When an item is ordered
long distance, there will usually be more than one shipping
method offered for you to receive your merchandise. For
example, a company that ships items of many different sizes
may want to have more than one shipping company available.
So, depending on the product ordered, you may see that you
can use Fedex, UPS, or other shipping companies. This
gives those companies listed shipping referrals, as once
you are satisfied with one of those companies, you are most
likely to use them again.

Shipping referrals can be viewed as word of mouth
advertising and is one of the cheapest, yet most highly
effective, methods that can be used. It involves everyone
working together, the consumer, the companies offering
merchandise, and the shipping companies. Although this is
by no means the only form of getting the word out to the
public, it is certainly something to try if you are in the
position of needing a bit of an extra advertising boost.
And who among us does not like to save a bit of money?
Using the shipping referrals method accomplishes this goal
nicely.

So if you are in the need of a bit of low cost advertising,
why not give it a try?

----------------------------------------------------
For more information about Leveraging Shipping Referrals
visit:
http://www.international-business-referral-site.co.uk/shippi
ng-referral.html