45 Creative Offline Business Advertising Ideas

Creative Offline Advertising Ideas

Are you looking for creative ways to market your home business offline? If so, I have some creative offline advertising ideas for you to try out. I recommend that you try 2 of these ideas every week and to be consistent with your offline advertising.

#1. Make up advertising filler packs and pass them out every where you go, every event that you attend and swap them with other women home business owners.

#2. When you travel and stay in hotels, leave your catalog, business card, business coupon behind in your room, lobbies and other places that people congregate. I like to leave my business card with my hotel housekeeping (maid) tip.

#3. Print out flyers with your business name and contact information along with any specials you are running. Leave these flyers in public places where others can see them. Public Places: Grocery store message boards, community center message boards, employee lounges, etc.

#4. Contact local area bridal stores, bridal supply stores, caterers, tux rental centers, dj’s, photographers, etc. if your company/business offers a bridal registry. See if you can leave them your business cards!

#5. Daycare Centers: You can get a lot of business from the parents who use daycare centers so contact them about leaving your business cards or flyers.

#6. A lot of churches and religous groups hold spring and fall festivals, so make sure you contact them about getting a booth space at one of their events. Booth spaces are usually very economical with these types of groups.

#7. Join your local Chamber of Commerce! They always hold local business events in your area. This is a great way to network and to make new business contacts.

#8. College Campuses: College Students are always looking to spend money and they are usually on the hunt for a business opportunity to help pay for their school expenses so you can target them for sales and for recruting into your business opportunity. Most schools have a student center, so that is where you would want to leave your business cards and flyers.

#9. Contact your local area Welcome Wagon or Welcome to the Neighborhood group. See if you can add your business info to their Welcome to the Neighborhood bags.

#10. Contact your local area hospitals and see if you can add your business info to their New Mommy Diaper Bags. A lot of hospitals give out free bags filled with goodies to all the new moms who have babies at their facilities!

#11. Contact your local medical offices, particularly the Obstetrics & Gynecology Offices and the Pediatrician Offices. A lot of those offices also give freebies to expecting or new moms. See if you can add your information their freebie packages.

#12. Donate a prize or a gift certificate to your local radio station for their numerous prize giveaways and contests. This gets you free business exposure. Often times, they will also list you as a prize sponsor on their website too.

#13. Donate a prize to your local area Bingo Halls! They are always looking for prize donations.

#14. Call your local Chamber of Commerce to find out when there will be local job fairs in your area and get a booth at one or at the very least attend one so you can make some new contacts in your local area.

#15. Call your local area colleges and trade schools to find out when their next local area job/employment fair will be. A great way to market your home business opportunity to others who might be interested.

#16. Contact local area car dealerships. I make up small packets of business information, my business card, my coupon and a small freebie. Ask them if you can drop off 100 packs to them to hand out to others who come in for those FREE test drives.

#17. Contact your local area gyms and fitness centers. A lot of times you can get a table and market your business for an economical fee of $25.00.

#18. Network with others in your community who have home businesses. They are usually in the know on local business events that are upcoming in your community.

#19. Contact companies in your local area to see if you can come in and set up a display in their employee lounges or cafeterias for an employee shopping break. This works best if you offer an exclusive discount or deal to their employees.

#20. Does your local area TV Cable Company have a local information channel? If so, contact them to see if you can advertise on their information channel.

#21. Contact local small companies and shops to see if you can offer an exclusive discount to their employees. Companies like to offer perks to their employees such as shopping discounts from various local businesses.

#22. Small home town newspapers! I don’t get a great response to the big city newspaper ads but I do get a great response if I place ads in small home town newspapers!

#23. Get a low cost outdoor banner ad printed up to market your business during outside community events such as: sporting events, music concerts and so forth.

#24. Take your business on the road during the nice weather seasons. Contact your local area parks and recreation centers to see what kind of events are coming up and inquire about getting a table or booth at their outdoor events.

#25. Community coupon clipper packs and coupon packs. If your community has them, call them up and find out how you can advertise in them.

#26. Contact local area businesses such as: salons, banks, massage parlors etc. See if you can come in and set up a display. Offer a contest and prize with your display. Use the entry forms to gather contact information for possible new contact leads.

#27. Contact local area pizza shops, diners, deli’s and coffee shops. Most of these types of businesses have paper placemats where you can buy ad space and have your business ad placed on them. People do READ these ads!

#28. Contact local area bars, restaurants and clubs to see if you can buy some advertising on their paper beverage coasters.

#29. Local Television Newstations are always holding on-air contests and website contests for their viewers. Contact them to see if you can donate a prize to get some free business exposure for your business.

#30. Attend local area Holiday Shopping Events. Customers who are ready spend some holiday money and looking to purchase holiday gifts attend these events. Get a booth or table space and market your business to them.

#31. Hold a local community block party at your home or at your local community center. Families are always looking for something to do on the weekends!

#32. Get your business listed in your local yellow pages phone book. Way too often home business people over look this valuable advertising tool. These days a lot of phone books have coupon sections too, so make sure you inquire about adding your coupon to that section.

#33. You can take this phone book idea one step further by finding out who prints up those vinyl phone book covers that are covered with local business advertising in your area and find out how much it would cost for you to add your business ad to that phone book cover.

#34. Get your business information printed up on pencils and hand them out for FREE to local colleges and adult technical schools.

#35. Get a vehicle banner made for your automobile. I recommend the vinyl clings so that you can easily remove them when it comes time to wash your vehicle.

#36. If your city has a travel guide that tourists request, make sure you place a business ad in that travel guide. This is a great way to get your business information into the hands of non-local customers.

#37. Local City Maps! These days you can find all kinds of small business advertising printed on the sides and backs of those city maps! You can get really good economically priced ads placed onto those maps.

#38. Contact local area hotels, motels and bed and breakfast inns in your local area. Ask them if you can leave your business information with them for their guests to peruse when they are in the lobby.

#39. Get your business information printed up onto balloons. Give these ballons to local sporting events, charity events etc. A great way to get more business exposure.

#40. Find a few home business owners in your local community and team up with them! You can all sponsor a local boys/girls sports team, a parade float or other things in your community! This makes it very economical for those who are in small business to get business exposure and to participate in your local community events.

#41. Get T-shirts printed up with your business information printed on them. Hand them out to your friends and family members and ask them to wear them when they are out in the community running their errands.

#42. Get some canvas tote bags printed up with your business information on them. Pass them out to a few lady friends and ask them to use them when they are out and about in the community attending events or running errands.

#43. Get a license plate made up for the front of your car with your business information on it.

#44. Wear a business name tag every time you go out in the community. People do read them and do notice them!

#45. Local Area Magazines! Does your city publish their own local area magazine? If so, contact them about placing some advertising in their magazine.

Business To Business Finance

Many small businesses turn to traditional lenders when they are ready to open for business.  They gather together their business plan and head to a bank in the hopes that the bank will fund their venture.  For many small business owners that means using their personal finances as security and that is a terrifying proposition. The Best Finance Tips for small business are those that help them grown with minimal risk
 
There is an alternative though and that’s business-to-business finance.  There are companies whose goal is to offer an alternative to traditional financing and this can be the perfect avenue for many new businesses to pursue.
 
Business to business finance is essentially a simple concept.  Established businesses often want to invest in other businesses. They have the resources available to offer not only capital but in many cases advice as well.  The companies offering the money see this as a good investment.
 
There are companies that you can turn to when you decide to look into the prospect of business to business finance.  Some are the companies themselves. You contact the representative of the company who specializes in the business to business operations and get more information from them.  They will explain what their qualifications are and what financial opportunities they are offering. They will have the Best Finance Tips available for their specific business.
 
Another often overlooked aspect to business to business finance is when one business takes another under their financial wing so to speak.  By offering them support in key areas such as marketing, the smaller business will flourish which translates into increased revenue for the
larger supporting business.
 
One area that this might be utilized is in IT support.  Many fledgling businesses don’t recognize the need for having a strong web presence.  The Internet is a fundamental resource for any new business and in a business to business financial arrangement, if the larger business provides ongoing support in the areas of building and expanding an online market, their investment will grow.
 
Not all businesses offer to direct business to business financing to smaller companies.  That is the reason that there are companies created that handle the transactions and act as a proxy for the larger corporations.
 
In this instance of business to business to finance, a larger corporation who wants to provide financial support to smaller businesses contacts a company who provides essential financial services to those businesses.  An agreement is reached wherein the larger business provides
financial backing and their initial investment is secured in one of several ways. 
 
One way this type of business to business transaction takes place is the same route that traditional financing is handled.  Loan agreements are secured and the smaller business uses the capital to finance their business and make payments back to the larger corporation.  The larger

company who works as an intermediary takes a percentage and offers additional support, including business training and ongoing advice in an effort to ensure the smaller business is going to be successful.

Why Double Sided Business Cards are Not that Great

There has been a buzz about printing double-sided business cards. In the world of business card printing, a lot of people think that this is the new and improved way of doing business. Well, we are sorry to break their bubble, but in our view this is not necessarily so.

Double-sided business cards may be interesting, and it might even be quite useful for some people, but in a lot of cases, people really do not need to have them made.

Double-sided business cards are unnecessary and may even cost quite a hefty sum.. The classic business card printing principles still apply, and most are usually better accepted than the double-sided ones. In any case, many business people are better off without needing to have a double-sided business card in their marketing agenda.

Here are some of the reasons why we view that double-sided business cards are not really that great.

Too noisy or flashy:

For some people, double-sided business cards with their extra marketing messages appear too noisy or flashy. This also makes the “double sided business card holder” seem loud and boisterous. If people print things like marketing messages and product descriptions, it really makes the business card look messy and crowded. In fact, in most cases a double-sided business card does not seem like a business card anymore. It becomes much more like a promotional note card that happens to have details that are similar to those of a business card.

Somewhat unprofessional:

Now, since it becomes almost like a promotional tactic more than a formal business card, double sided business cards will usually appear unconventional and even unprofessional. Business cards have a certain type of dignity and respect that you want to convey. If you turn your professional business card into a promotional circus, hardly anyone will take you seriously. It becomes a mark of a person who is not professional in his dealings with business contacts. It is basically another form of “spam.”

More expensive:

Of course, since double-sided business cards are printed in both sides they are also doubly expensive. You need to print double the images and double the text. In addition, since business card paper stock can have one sided or double-sided coatings, you gain extra costs in special coatings as well. All in all, this adds about a 100% or more increase in the business card printing quotation. This makes them hardly ideal for people in a budget. With this recession still prevailing, it becomes really impractical to printing double sided business cards unless you are relatively well off.

Rationalizing single sided business cards:

Lastly, if you think about it, you do not really need to print double-sided business cards unless you have been specifically asked to. Business cards are small and easy to read for a reason. You want people to know how you can be contacted quickly and easily. They do not want your whole life story and they do not want to read a mini-brochure in your business card. “Single sided business cards” are all that you need to establish business contacts. That is why double-sided business cards are not exactly the best that you can use.

Learn more about business card printing .

Work From Home Online Business Ideas To Make Money Online

Work from home and make money online! Hundreds and thousands of work from home business opportunities. Work from home business  opportunity can be offline or can be online. I will tell you about top 10 work from home online business opportunities.

As you start your own home business offline, but offline home business  can be more expensive than online business. With online business you  have many advantages over the offline business models. Online business can run from home, and with less money. With online business the whole world is your market and you can automate it fully.

There are many so called online business opportunities available on net  itself. But I am telling you about only those business models which you can run from home and make money guaranteed.

Work from home online business ideas: 1) Google Adwords 2) Google Adsense 3) Affiliate marketing 4) ebay 5) ebooks 6) Resell Rights 7) Private label Rights article Marketing 9) Ezine publishing and 10 ) blog or Blogging.

These are the business models with you can make huge money. Many people are doing these businesses but few of them make money. Why? There are many reasons for that. To make money with these business models or with any business you should have proper knowledge of that business and proper tools.

Many people want to start their own home business but they fail to make money because either they select wrong business models or they want fast result and don’t want to spend time to build business for long term success.

To make money with your business, select the business that you understand. If you don’t understand the business you want to start, try to learn about  it as much as you can. Select proper business model and select proper tools. Create a plan, business plan for long term and build your own money making business.

 The work from home business ideas above are proven business models. You may  find the variants of these businesses but the basic idea remains same. With  any business idea you can make huge money. Setting up these businesses  is not big deal, but running it or promoting it is important.

Here is three step formula to make big money from your home business … 1) Select Proper Business 2) Set up your system properly 3) Promote it, Promote..And Promote Yes, promotion is the key of success.

Remember there is no business opportunity that will make you rich without work or doing nothing as they claim. Stay away from those so called ‘quick rich “scams.Select any business model listed here, learn more about it , and turn your home business into money machine!

Getting Rich by Investing in an Excellent Business

At the annual meeting in 1996, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger commented that, “If you find three wonderful businesses in your life, you’ll get very rich.” At the meeting one year later, he said, “The single biggest recurring mistake I’ve made has been my reluctance to pay up for outstanding businesses.” As a new investor, you may here this and wonder, “Yes, Joshua, but what is it that actually makes a company an excellent business?”

To help you understand the traits of an excellent business, I’ve put together some resources that will give you an idea of what you should look for in a stock, and, just as vital, why it is important. Armed with this information, over time you’ll be more likely to build a portfolio of wealth creating assets that can provide financial security for you and your family.

An excellent business earns high returns on capital with little or no debt

There seems to be little doubt, based upon the evidence, that it’s easier to build a large net worth through value investing – that is, the disciplined purchase of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other assets that appear to be selling at a substantial discount to a reasonable person’s estimate of intrinsic value (or “the real” value.) Think of it as if you knew a local car wash had gold buried underneath it. The proprietor might be asking $800,000 for the land and enterprise, but you know full well that you could pay substantially more, not only owning the business, but also selling the gold you dug up on the open market. Thus, you had reason to believe that it was being sold for far less than its intrinsic value.

The one major shortcoming of this approach is that an asset bought cheap must be sold when it reaches intrinsic value unless it is an excellent business. As Charlie Munger has pointed out, over long periods of time, the rate of return which an investor earns is likely to be very close to the total return on capital generated by a firm, adjusted for dilution in shares outstanding. Thus, you are likely to do better paying fair value for a business that can reinvest its capital at high rates of return – say, over 15% to 20% per annum – than buying a mediocre business trading at a small discount to its liquidation value.

For more information, read Business Like Investing: Thinking Like an Owner; on the second page of the article you’ll find information on why return on capital matters.

An excellent business has durable competitive advantages

If you had unlimited funds, do you really believe that with the best pick of any manager in the world, you could unseat Coca-Cola as the undisputed leader in the soft drink industry? How about Johnson & Johnson with its myriad of patents, trademarks, and brand name products? The reason these businesses are able to succeed so well is that they have durable competitive advantages – things that their competitors can’t reproduce.

Sometimes these advantages are easy to spot – as is the case of Coca-Cola, which is the second most recognized word on Earth. However, it is possible for them to remain buried. One of the secrets to the phenomenal success of Wal-Mart is that Sam Walton built a distribution system with logistical capabilities that allowed him to lower the transportation costs of moving merchandise to his stores, allowing him to make far more profit than competitors selling at higher prices. He and his fellow shareholders won from the increased income while consumers won from the lower prices. These forces worked in combination with one another, reinforcing and accelerating the results so much that the tiny five-and-dime grew into the largest retailer the world has ever seen.

When you buy into a company through the purchase of its common stock, try to identify the durable competitive advantages it has that could stand up from attack by competitors and market forces such as outsourcing and increased globalization.

An excellent business is scalable

When businesses are highly successful, one of the key ingredients more often than not is scalability. Take American Eagle Outfitters, which has one of the best long-term investment records over the past decade. Why was it successful? Target? Wal-Mart? McDonald’s? Coca-Cola? Pepsi? Microsoft? All are excellent businesses in part because they had products or services that could be replicated in cookie-cutter fashion very, very rapidly.

Think about it. The McDonald’s in Hong Kong is very much like the McDonald’s in Chicago. And New York. And Southern California. By having the menu, layout, fixtures, and technology packaged in a way that restaurants could be rapidly opened, it made it easier for the chain to roll out across the United States and world. Coupled with its relatively high returns on equity and the cash provided by the franchisees, which footed the bill to build a huge portion of the overall business, it’s not hard to see why the shareholders might consider Ray Kroc as a hero.

The price still matters …

For those of you too young to remember the Nifty Fifty, this idea of buying excellent businesses was taken to such ridiculous extremes in the 1960’s that investors paid upwards of sixty and seventy times earnings! To contrast, a normal price-to-earnings ratio on Wall Street is considered fifteen; that is, for every $1 in per share profit a company generates, it would trade for $15. It didn’t take a genius to see that even if the business was all it was cracked up to be, at those prices, it would be virtually impossible to earn a satisfactory long-term rate of return.
That’s why you need to take a moment to read Price is Paramount to see an illustration of how lower growth rates can actually lead to higher rates of return in certain circumstances.

Buy and Holding Investing Strategy

Although I actively manage my regular investment accounts, and as you know, there are several businesses in which I am involved, one strategy that I use for one of my personal IRA accounts is to select only one business each year that has durable competitive advantages, earns high returns on equity, boasts talented management, has a history of disciplined capital allocation including returning excess capital to owners in the form of cash dividends and share repurchases, and the potential for future growth where I can be reasonably sure that earnings are likely to be materially higher in five or ten years. I then use the entire annual contribution limited to acquire as many shares as possible, instruct my brokerage firm to reinvest all dividends, and practically forget about the holding altogether. At least once a year, I’ll review the company’s progress and results to make sure there aren’t material changes in the underlying quality of the enterprise. For the most part, regardless of market conditions, I simply forget these equities exist.

Why, do you ask, would I be inclined to do this when my regular investing results are so good? It’s simple: Insurance against ignorance and overconfidence, as Benjamin Graham called it. There’s no way I can possibly know everything, and as evidenced by the impressive work of Professor Jeremy Siegel, excellent businesses with reinvested dividends over several decades have crushed the broader market. One well-known financial news and commentary company points out in an online product description that only $2,000 invested in Pepsico 25 years ago has now grown to over $150,000; a single share of Coca-Cola bought for $19 with dividends reinvested in 1919 would now be worth more than $5,000,000+. Through market highs, lows, and in-between, these great businesses just keep on compounding. By owning a collection of them, in a retirement account, outside of the realm of my enterprising endeavors, businesses, and active investment portfolio, it’s a quiet reminder to manage my affairs conservatively (as would an insurance company that guards against a 1 in a 1,000 year storm) and let the companies themselves do the heavy lifting. It is also my hope to someday use the account as a sort of living, breathing didactic exercise to prove the merits of compounding to my children, grandchildren, and even – dare I say it – great grand-children.

In ways, it’s comparable to what Anne Scheiber did when she amassed a $22+ million fortune from her tiny New York apartment. By selecting value priced, blue chip stocks, the frictional expenses of active management, frequent big / ask spreads, commissions, and taxes are all greatly reduced, leading to more capital compounding for the investor. As Charlie Munger pointed out, by holdings stocks for long periods of time and paying only a single 35% tax at the end (these rates were before the Bush cuts on capital gains), a 15% return would by upwards of 13% by the time it is all done – compared to much, much less – 10% or 11% depending on the circumstances – if the money were made by frequent trading. Over a 50 year time period, a small 3% advantage can result in triple the wealth. You read that right. As one great investor said, this is a game of inches, not of feet and yards. You make the best decisions you can and over time, they amount to something meaningful.

How can you go about choosing which stocks should make the cut? Believe it or not, you shouldn’t just go with the cheapest or most undervalued company. That’s because over long periods of time, a stock is likely to compound at the rate the underlying business earns on shareholder equity. That is, provided you’ve paid a reasonable price (remember – Price is Paramount), and Wall Street maintains a consistent valuations as measured by the price-to-earnings ratio, a company earning 13% on shareholder equity will probably compound at that same rate, with dividends reinvested, provided it is held in a tax-advantaged account. Given a ten year or longer time span, you’d be better off owning this business than one earning 8% on shareholder equity but trading at a 30% discount to intrinsic value.

How To Explode A Hot Business Opportunity

Are you one of the many people searching for a hot home business opportunity? Well, you can get in line with the thousands of other people eager to find just the right home business. Or you can read on to discover how to get up in front of the line to secure your hot business opportunity now.

When you are looking for a viable home business opportunity, make sure that you do some research before getting too deep in buying one “magic” business opportunity after another. The entire home business opportunity field has been around for some time so there are multitudes of business opportunities out there. Where to start your search can frustrate so many budding entrepreneurs. Then comes the tough job of actually knowing what to do to build a thriving home business.

Building an online business takes time but it certainly isn’t anything to get frustrated about. It is surely possible to easily get started with your own online business. But the reality is that millions of dollars will take many years to earn – if that is your goal. Quality home business opportunities are not for people who expect to just make an initial investment and then just watch the money roll in.

Working from home with your own business, working hours that suit you, doing what you do because you want to is what I call the ideal home business. The last thing you want is for your business to become a 24hour a day job. You want a home business where you set your own hours doing what you want. So how do you go about finding and starting such a business?

Here are some of my ideas and suggestions:

First, no matter what business you pursue, people will be searching online for what you have to offer. Check out what the hot trends are in the business market. The list of the best home business opportunities based on current and future trends may be just what you’re looking for. Remember, hot trends usually convert into big bucks for you.

Second, there are some common misconceptions about the way any home business opportunity works. Initially not knowing your business plan might be temporary but having no plan is never right. You must start with a proven plan of action. Any hot new business is not learned overnight. You must follow a detailed and proven plan of action. Success is not instant. Home business opportunities are NOT suitable for people who are looking for “a money-making machine” or who “want to make money in their sleep” or any of those other phony promises. You must get your hands on a proven home business that offers a step-by-step plan for your success. As your business grows you will continue to incorporate the tools of the trade that are presented to you in your step-by-step plan. This plan of action will enable you to potentially earn a significant income and also have a life.

Thus, to turn a home business opportunity into a success, you must have a hot product and you need to have the appropriate knowledge and skills required to run your business. In other words, a little sweat and some brains go a long way to insure your home business success! You supply the sweat and an excellent proven step-by-step plan will provide the business brain power. Without a proven plan, you might as well call it quits before you even start. Even the hottest product in the universe can’t be marketed without a plan of action.

So, my friends, get the ball rolling on the road to your home business success. Find hot trends to promote. Hot trends turn into hot business opportunities. Then find and become firmly planted in a step-by-step system to explode your business. Then watch the cash come rolling in!

Starting A Home Business Could Be The Best Thing You Ever Do – But Do Your Homework!

So you are considering starting a home business and you have been looking at the vast array of opportunities out there, but which one do you go for?  Do you go for the first one you see or do you carry on researching the thousands of programmes and opportunities with all their HYPE about unimaginable wealth, fancy cars, yachts and constant holidays?

Starting a home business can be very exciting and it can enable you to achieve your financial goals and time freedom.  Becoming your own boss is a great feeling and it is not hard to see why so many people look for such opportunities allowing them to work from home.  When you start your work from home business you need to be sure that you are on the right track.  You also want to be able to see strong profit and growth from your on-line or home based business.

Like any business, they right and wrong ways of getting established.  An unfortunate fact is that 99% of home business ventures fail. This is not because a lack of trying on the part of the person trying to change their life, but because of a lack of training and support from their sponsor or mentor.

Let’s be honest, how many people would be able to set up a home based or online business from scratch without any help or support?  My guess would be not many and the statistics seem to back this up.

That’s not to say that you should disregard any online business or home based business opportunity.  On the contrary! You simply need to know what to look for and do your homework.  This will enable you to spot the genuine opportunities from the, dare I say it, ‘scams’.

Here are some tips on what to look for when researching a work from home business opportunity:

1) – Find a mentor – If your business is going to be successful, this is crucial!  You need someone that is going to keep you on the right track, who will listen to your needs and who has a genuine interest in YOUR success.  As I mentioned earlier, the majority of people fail simply because they do not get the help, support and mentoring that is required to be successful.

2) – Talk To People That Are Already Successful – These people have been there, done that and no doubt bought the T-Shirt.  They know what works and what doesn’t.  These guys don’t go round trying to re-invent the wheel, so why should you?  The beauty of ALL home based business opportunities is that they can be duplicated.  Copy what the successful have been doing, it works for them – it will work for you too!

3) – Systems Work – People Fail - It’s A FACT!  If you are serious about making a life changing income then you need a legitimate business system in place that will enable you to realise your goals.  The wealthiest tycoons and entrepreneurs in the World all use systems to get things done.  These guys all know and understand the 2 biggest keys to success – LEVERAGE & OUTSOURCING.  Leveraging the power of a business system and assigning specific tasks to others, you achieve a lot more a lot quicker!  This in turn gives you the chance to do more, therefore getting to where you want to be faster!  Finding a business system that is proven and does the hard work for you is vital if you are to be successful.

4) – No Personal Selling or Telling - No one likes to give people the hard sell, I know I certainly don’t!  Make sure that you have access to a team of professionals who can do the selling and telling for you.  These guys will take the pressure away from you and close your sales, allowing you to concentrate on generating the sales for your business.  A huge factor that is often over-looked by those who want to start their own business is having that back up there and knowing that someone is working for you, closing your sales.  Can you imagine having to deal with every single phone call and enquiry from your business?

5) – Go With Your Instinct - If you feel good about something you are already half way there.  Learn to follow your instinct.  We all know when something does not feel right.  If you are unable to get a straight answer about the business then you know there is something not quite right.  It should become apparent if someone is not interested in helping you or if they are just trying to sell you something.  There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who are praying on the vulnerable – Don’t become another victim!

These tips will help you decide which ventures are genuine and which are not.  Follow the advice you receive here and you will get a much needed kickstart for your home based business.  Remember, Do Your Homework!

A Career as a Business Speaker

Many groups, organizations, and companies are turning to motivational speakers to increase work productivity. Motivational speaking has become a very lucrative and rewarding career. There are many kinds of motivational speakers available for every type of event. One popular motivational speaker is the business speaker.

Business speakers stand apart from other speakers because they apply their own business experience to the particular business environment that they are speaking about. For those interested in a career as a business speaker, the following tips will serve as a helpful guide to a satisfying career:

Personal Qualities: To be a business speaker, you must have the necessary personal skills that will hold an audiences attention. You have to be passionate about your business experience and the topic you are discussing. You should also be energetic and professional, compassionate, ethical, and have a lot of common sense. A speaker should be charismatic, personable, positive, happy, and have a captivating presence. As a speaker, you should be confident about what are saying and have excellent communication and listening skills. You should also have a sense of humor and know how to make a speaking engagement fun for the audience.

Experience: You do not need to have experience with a particular business company, but you must be able to apply your own experience to the particular business situation. A background in the business field is essential. Many speakers craft their teaching to accommodate many business environments. This can include: team work, team building, organisation, problem solving skills, employee and employer interaction, developing ways to boost creativity, how to deal with clients and customers,etc.

Education: Having a business education is an asset. This can be a business degree from a reputable college or university. Teaching at a business school or appearing as a guest speaker is also very valuable.

Proof of Success: Quality business speakers will usually have proof of their expertise. They may have published articles, books, or been featured in magazines and newspapers. They may also have been published in business journals and have their own online website full of facts about themselves and their career. All of their information will be current. They may also have published business motivational books, and audio tapes or CDs. Making television and radio guest appearances is also an asset.

There are a number of methods you can utilize to promote you business speaker services:

Word of Mouth: This method is a great form of advertising. It is also free. Try to speak to as many businesses as possible and explain you qualifications and experience. Make sure you leave a business card and information pamphlet.

Join a Professional Speakers Bureau: You will be kept up-to-date about events about where you can use your speaking skills. More contacts means more chances of securing work. They can also help you promote your services. Many businesses will seek a speaker through a bureau.

Create a Website: Having a website is a great marketing tool. You can list your experience, qualifications, former clients, references, responses from former clients, and your biography.

Certified Speaking Professional: Earn a certification as a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) The certification signifies three years membership in a qualified professional organization that included a thorough study and certification process. A certification lets employers know that you are qualified.

Business speaker services are wide-ranging and diverse. The best business speakers know that hard work and enhancing and improving their skills, style, and delivery will keep them ahead in the game. Incorporating your qualifications within a variety of business fields will improve your chances of having a successful and rewarding speaking career.

Business Modeling 101

Two basic rules of business:

1) Narrowly define your client
2) Go after them agressively

I’ve always been inspired by small business and now I’m in business to help them.

A little about me — I’ve worked for some of the most recognized organizations in the world. Some of these include CitiGroup (AVP), Freddie Mac (Trader), GE Medical Systems (Analyst), JPMorgan (Analyst), SunTrust Robertson Humphrey (Associate), Harvard University (Visiting Fellow) and Intel Corporation (Sr. Analyst).  Most of these organizations have similar practices regarding financial operations, the difference is always more apparent in the dominant business model.

What exactly is a business model?  Here are a few definitions on the Web:

The plan a company uses to generate revenue.
www.netc.org/openoptions/appendices/glossary.html The combination of factors that describe the business, including the market the business will serve, the perceived value delivered to the customer, which determines profitability per unit of sale, and the sustaining factors that allow the company to thrive over the long term.
www.milestonegrowth.com/financing/glossary.html A model of a business organization or process.
www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/Patient/HIPAA/Glossary.asp

In financial or investor terms a business model is your financial model.  It can also be narrowly defined as gross profit (revenues – cost of goods sold).  This is how I was taught to define it as an investment banking analyst.  When comparing business models bankers will likely jump straight to your financial model and your gross margin projection.  A company with a high gross margin (gross profit/revenues) has a “good” business model and the company within an industry with the highest gross margin is said to have the best.  Larger companies are perceived to have better business models as they are able to benefit from economies of scale.  Is there a way to break this perception with your clients? 

It’s easy to start thinking you are doomed as a small business, that the cards are inherently stacked against you and there’s absolutely no way of competing with your larger more well established competitors.  This is what they want you to think, but it’s only correct if you use the same business model.   Woman, veteran, minority and disabled owned organizations are especially vulnerable to “small business tilt”.  The challenge is to find your edge.  

Regardless of size, your business model MUST be compelling and define your edge.  As a contract manager at Harvard, one of the hardest parts of my job was convincing small business partners to try something new.  Some of them only had to change a few minor areas to boost market share in the community.  One small business took my advice and landed a contract with a national chain through our partnership.  If you try to compete with larger organizations using “their” business model you’re not maximizing your options.  Listen to what your customers need; they can help to define your edge. 

There are numerous types of business models. Some of these include:

i) Manufacturing (Direct Model) – A direct model which allows the manufacturer to speak directly to the consumer like a license or lease.
ii) Advertiser Model – Extension of traditional broadcast model. Search engines (portals) and classifieds (like Craigslist) that request a listing fee or user registration.

iii) Data Model – Data provided about consumer behavior. Examples include audience measurement services like Nielson or www.Alexa.com.

iv) Merchant Model – Wholesalers or retailers of goods. Examples include brick and mortar shops with a web interface or a Catalog exchange with mail order.

v) The Brokerage Model – Marketplace exchange. Investment banks are the best example of this.

vi) Affiliate/Commission Model – Similar to an advertising model, but thrives from purchases and not traffic.

vii) Forum Model – Blog or community forum. Examples are Twitter and blog sites.

viii) Subscription Model – Users are charged a periodic fee for service. Examples include Netflix and Internet services.

ix) PPV Model – Pay per view; On-demand model. Metered usage or subscriptions.

According to a study by Peter Wiell, et al, of the Sloan School of Management at MIT, entitled,  Do Some Business Models Perform Better than Others? A Study of the 1000 Largest US Firms, some buisness models do perform better than others.  The study goes on to say that, “…business models are a better predictor of financial performance than industry classifications and that some business models do, indeed, perform better than others. Specifically, selling the right to use assets is more profitable and more highly valued by the market than selling ownership of assets. [http://ccs.mit.edu/papers/pdf/wp226.pdf, p.2]

There are four basic labels for business models as defined by the study:  Creator, Distributor, Landlord and Broker [p.25].   The labels are fairly intuitive.   Landlord and Broker both exist because of the Creator and Distributor; they are the “derivatives” of the business modeling world.    These models reach success on good asset management.  Subsequently, both Brokers and Landlords have significantly higher operating incomes and market capitalizations than Creator or Distributor business models [p.22].   The market has effectively assigned more risk to these models, likewise the reward is proportionately higher.   As to be expected (or not) there were no significant differences among any of the four models regarding ROIC (return on invested capital) [p.24].  If a certain business model generated higher returns on investment we would all be using that model, theoretically.   I highly recommend reading this paper.  (I am trying to get my hands on the latest version) 

In reality, and in a time when more and more customers prefer freeze dried over slow cooked,  small business has the edge on big business -  you have the luxury and gift of agility.  Your organization is able to respond to changes in demand faster.   If you haven’t applied this to you business model, stop here and process it.  If you have and you’re still looking for ways to improve operations through your business model follow these steps. 

1. Review and align your business model with your mission. Everyone in the organization should be directly connected to increasing your profitability. If they are not, transfer them to a project that is. Everyone in your organization should be thinking about “how to decrease costs and increase revenues while improving quality (and staying legal)”. Your mission must include some measure of this principle.

2. Find the optimal model. There are dozens of ways to increase your revenue while reducing costs. Finding the optimal model for your consumer base is key.

a. Create a financial model and play around with the variables that influence the model the most. A good financial model will help you to focus your attention on critical success ratios. Instead of guessing which areas to focus on or making a random to do list, you will know the top three areas to work on in order to improve your margin.

b. Operational costs are more than simply control functions in today’s virtual world. In many cases a $12/month website can take the place of a fully staffed brick and mortar office space. What’s the lesson here? If you’re a small business, use the Internet as a way to disenfranchise big business. If you’re a large business, use the Internet as a way to create a segment of your organization that can react to changes in market demand faster. There’s a reason why recent academic studies in competition, strategy and organizational behavior are almost completely dominated by research on Internet models that revolutionized traditional business.

3. Stress test your model. Make sure you know what the implications of a decision are before you make any strategic changes. This is what your model is for. Most people think it’s a tool just for investors, but investors also want to see if you know how decisions will effect the flow of cash in your organization andwill appreciate your ability to do this using your financial model. A sensitivity analysis makes broad changes to accounts within the model. A scenario analysis shows the effects of different scenarios on your business. Guess which one investors really want to see?

4. Treat marketing as an asset. I believe marketing is so fundamental to your business that it must be a part of your business model.

a. Most MBAs are taught that marketing is an operating expense, but for start-ups marketing is an essential part of product revenue that might take several years to recoup. Should advertising expense be capitalized, or expensed? Well, I personally think marketing should be capitalized.

b. What exactly does capitalization mean? It means that large business items can be recorded on assets resulting in a depreciation expense rather than taking the full cost against current revenues. This means that assets are debited (usually long term or fixed assets) and liabilities are credited. As expenses are realized through depreciation, liabilities are debited and revenue is credited as an expense. Instead of reducing gross margin calculations, capitalized expenses increase assets and liabilities to balance.

c. While capitalization will cost a little more in bookkeeping fees there are also several advantages; some of these include 1) less volatility in gross profit, 2) increased equity investment, and 3) potential tax benefits.

5. Do a Little Six Sigma Dance – Determine the 10 most crucial processes in your organization and map them out from end to end. I guarantee you will find redundant processes, duplicate services, etc. In manufacturing they pay people hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this. This is also a necessary step in most corporate quality initiatives such as Six Sigma or LEAN. The former helps to reduce errors and the latterhelpsinreducing redundant or unnecessary costs (waste). When tasked with mapping out Intel’s equipment supply chain I found control issues and redundant processes. Intel is one of the most control oriented organizations I’ve ever worked for. You WILL find areas for improvement in your organization if you do this properly.

6. Acknowledge working capital. First of all, what is working capital?

a. The definition of working capital is (current assets) – (current liabilities). It’s a measure of the liquid (ready) assets in the organization. For this reason, analysts refer to it as “working”. Financial theory is full of ideas on this subject. While corporate bankers might use a surplus as a “cushion of protection” against a loan, investment bankers might see it is as an inefficient use of short term leverage. Some might even see a surplus as a sign of poor financial leadership. Ultimately, it will depend on the industry.

b. Implicit in working capital considerations are your revenue recognition policies. If you’ve squeezed everything out of your turnover ratios consider developing easier ways for your customers to pay. How can you help them to facilitate credit if needed? Can you create a package deal? Payment models are particularly important for serviceorganizations.

7. Close the funding gap. You must come up with ways to raise capital if you don’t have it, and you must be sure to scrutinize every project with a fine tooth comb if you do. Large and small businesses alike have difficulty obtaining funds when they really need them. What does that tell you? Well when it comes to business survivability the ability to “create” value is at the top of the list no matter who you are. And it’s not an easy thing to do, but here are some best practices….

a. Big business has known about “structuring deals” for a long time. If we can bring loans to the microcredit sector why can’t we bring investment banking product to start-up enterprise? I’ll come back to this in a minute.

b. CEO vs CFO vs CPA (Visionary/Leader vs. Translation Specialist vs. Editor). Investors want you to be able to validate assumptions with certainty.As a CEO you’re probably great at selling your product. You’re passionate about it, but don’t care about all the details. That’s ok. You’re supposed to have this approach, but your CFO should be different (and your CPA should not be your CFO or your Admin Assistant). Your CFO or business consultant should be more concerned with providing the sell to investors. They translate your energy and enthusiasm into a presentation investors and bankers want to hear. Your CPA will edit (audit). Your ability to do this literally builds value into your product. Value iscreated by credibility and your business model will be your most relied upon tool when speaking to investors.

c. Detail the investment opportunity and come up with the best way to sell it. Give your investors a combo meal; make it easy for them to see a return. I have yet to meet someone with money to invest that turned down a well thought outinvestment opportunity.

d. Exchange houses make investing easier by providing a guarantee. The average investor assumes that trading on the NASDAQ is safe. That is, the NASDAQ is a safe betting house. If you go to Vegas and you have $50k, you want to know you’re dealing with some trustworthy bookies. The House only helps you to make good on your bet, they don’t have anything to do with your decision to bet, or what you place your money on. Does that sound safe? You must create the sanctity of the stock market and provide a return that beats 12%. That’s it! Personally I would rather do business with someone I know and can touch over someone with a ticker symbol that I’ve never met; I’m referring to private deals and your opportunity to sell yourself by being safer than an exchange bet.That’s why investors love theprivate “structured” deals I was talking about in point (a). Read up on how these deals are structured by doing research on private equity offerings. For instance, you can develop 3 different stages of funding. Request money for stage 1, define your deliverables and pay these people back. Do the same thing for Stage 2 and 3. I’m in the process of writing an article about this subject now so check the website for updates!

8. Finally, consider your buying power. According to Porter’s Five Forces of Profitability, profitability is defined as a function of 5 different forces: 1)the threat of new entrants, 2) bargaining power of suppliers, 3) threat of substitute products or services,4) rivalry among existing competitors ; and 5) the bargaining power of buyers.http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2008/01/the-five-competitive-forces-that-shape-strategy/
Call the contract manager up.

a. Ask if you can set up a meeting to discuss your product.

b. Tell them what you offer andshow them your cost model. What can you do for them?You need to know what distinguishes you from both the incumbent and the competition.

c. Ask them if they actually make the purchases or if they maintain the contracts and if it’s a mandated community?

d. Prove that you know the challenging nuances of the organization you want to sell to.

e. Also be sure to mention any relevant purchasing buzz words like sustainability, low energy, value added, CRM Analytics, minority programs, e-purchasing, community connections, etc. Anything that can make the contract manager seem brilliant for choosing your product.

f. Even if you’re just starting out, you’ll be better for this exchange. The more you do it, the easier it will become and the better you will be.

Top Ten Business Plan Killers

As a lender, I wish we could approve every loan application that hit our table; unfortunately it’s not possible. We deal with mostly very small businesses seeking small loans, usually less than $250,000. Lending to inexperienced, new business owners is one of the riskiest arenas for a lending agency. Still, we manage to keep our losses to a minimum. The amazing thing about these business plan killers is that they rarely travel alone; they almost always appear in clusters. Here are the top ten business plan killers and what you can do to avoid or fix them:

1. Dreadful Personal Financial Profile

What is the likelihood that one who demonstrates abysmal financial management in his or her personal affairs will miraculously become an effective manager of finances for a business? It’s highly unlikely. It’s a lot more likely that poor practices in one’s personal situation are simply carried into the business. The main difference is that in business a much broader range of people and organizations usually get burned as a result of mismanaged business finances. Red flags pop up in business plans in the form of high credit card financing, garages full of toys (trucks, Seadoos, Skidoos, bikes, boats) 90% financed, poor credit history and no savings.

Strategy One: Tidy up your personal finances before applying for a business loan. Pay down loans, clean up any bad debts, collect some business-related equipment and save some money.

2. Insufficient or Non-Existent Owner Equity or Security

Business is always risky, but new business is infinitely more so. Lenders will want to see you personally “invested” in your business. The part of the business you personally own is called your equity. Another way to describe equity is the amount of cash or equipment you put into the business. A lender wants to see that you are invested to the point that you will not be inclined to walk away when the going gets tough. How much owner equity is enough? The amount varies from lender to lender, but less than 10% is inviting scrutiny while 20% or more will make your proposition more enticing. Any savvy lender will insist on seeing you invested to the degree that any financial complications result in you, not them, laying awake nights stressing over how to pay the bills. Security is the surly sister of equity. Your loan application will be stronger if you bring some sort of asset to the table as security. Lenders will be more attracted to assets with a clear resale value of more than the loan. Inventory is usually less desirable because it tends to grow legs and disappear when the going gets tough.

Strategy Two: Create some equity to bring to the table. Save money, sell some toys, borrow some love money, or get a second job for a while.

3. Inadequate Market Research

Inadequate market research manifests itself in various cruel ways. It can surface in the business plan as an unconvincing business case. It can reveal itself in the form of too much secondary information (from other sources) and not enough primary market research (that which you gather yourself). Lack of market research can lead to a business plan that is too general – not specific enough. Perhaps one of the most common and perplexing indicators is that the entrepreneur has not talked to or listened to the potential customers. A lender will want to see that you have “turned over all the rocks” in search of knowledge about your business. After reading your business plan, if I feel that I know more about your business than you do, I will not be inspired to approve your loan.

Strategy Three: Prove your business case to yourself and to your reader. Persist in your market research efforts until you become “the expert” for your business. You will feel more confident and have an easier time convincing your readers that you know what you are doing.

4. Transmitting and Not Receiving

It’s your responsibility to find that elusive balance between being bullheaded enough to bulldoze your way to success, yet sensitive enough to receive critical information. Your ability to listen to your clients is the key to your success in business. Falling in love with your business idea at the high cost of closing your ears to input will not help you acquire a loan. Business analysts, bankers and customers vote with their money. They have no need to yell at you to get their points across. It’s important to listen attentively when they speak at normal volumes.

Strategy Four: Listen and learn. Listen to those who agree with you AND to those who do not. Listen to all who shoot holes in your business idea, they might just be pointing you toward success. When you think you’ve heard it all, listen harder!

5. Dishonesty, Discrepancies, Inconsistencies One sure way to cheat yourself out of a loan is to give the appearance, intentionally or accidentally, that you are anything less than above board. Any form of dishonesty in your business plan, or during your dealings with the targeted lending agency staff, is a sure way to have your application rejected. Blatant untruths are the more obvious offence, but it is entirely possible to communication underhandedness in other ways. For example, missing or inaccurate information invites questions and sends the wrong message. Conveniently leaving out some of the less obvious, non-flattering financial information (like unpaid long overdue taxes) is a sure way to a “NO”.

Strategy Five: Be honest, thorough, and accurate.

6. Not Answering the Key Business Questions Clearly

Your business plan is a tool for communicating with others. What is your product or service? Who are your customers? How will you market and distribute your product or service to your customers? Will you make money? Will your business be able to repay the loan? Does your plan communicate these things clearly?

Strategy Six: Answer the basic business questions. Who, what, where, why, when, how. There are many business planning systems (although none surpass the Roadmap!) that will provide a framework to keep you on track. A proper business planning system will provide you with a framework in which to place the assortment of information you will gather. Choose a system and use it.

7. Shoddy Presentation

You can do the best market research on the planet, but if you can’t communicate it clearly and package your business plan professionally, your target audience might not even read it.

Strategy Seven: Provide a professional presentation. Ask a friend or pay someone to proof, get someone to keypunch the plan if you need to, but do a professional job. Demonstrate that you care and you will increase your odds with the lender.

8. Pie-In-The-Sky

Inflated, over optimistic sales forecasts or cash flow projections will derail your loan application every time. A future too bright will blind the lenders and scare them off the loan.

Strategy Eight: Be realistic in your expectations, even if you believe you will be floating on a sea of cash within months. No matter how lofty your financial aspirations might be, know that businesses are usually not profitable for the first while. Estimate your sales conservatively and your expenses a bit higher than you think they will be. Keep that cash flow realistic and be sure to include ALL expenses.

9. Fish-Out-Of-Water Syndrome

This is what happens when someone tries to get into a business they know nothing about. It becomes evident when the owner background reveals that the applicant has no prior experience in the area of expertise that is the main focus of the business. For example, a heavy-duty mechanic might seek to start a small restaurant. Not an impossible leap, just risky.

Strategy Nine: Know your business. It is so important to have a base of knowledge about your business and experience where possible. Many successful businesses arise from disgruntled or displaced employees who feel they can do as good as or better than their employer. Enhance this background experience with solid market research, the Internet, courses, books, tapes, and trade publications. Knowing your business will increase your confidence and enhance your loan options.

10. Too Little Too Late

This point pertains to existing businesses in search of financial assistance after things have already gone sideways. Too often we see the application when the accounts receivable is out of control or major suppliers have already been hung out too long for scary large sums of money. Other aspects of this condition are collectors hot on the trail and long overdue taxes. It’s really difficult to get excited about loaning money to pay for bills that should already have been paid.

Strategy Ten: Be decisive when your business gets into rough financial waters. Make the tough decisions early and then act on them quickly. If your recovery plan involves a loan, you are far stronger coming to the table early with a well thought out plan, than later with a plea for assistance to pay back taxes.