08.05.04
Posted in Auctions at 12:00 am by admin
How to Make Money from Internet Auctions
By J. Stephen Pope
If your business is not using eBay and other Internet
auctions, you could be missing out. Here are just a
few ways of generating additional income, profits and
cashflow from online auctions.
1. Convert Excess Assets to Cash
Sell personal or business items that you no longer
use. For example, are there slow moving inventory
items in your store? A major camera store chain sells
their slow movers, quite successfully, through eBay.
2. Buy and Sell Anything
Sometimes people put things out in the garbage because
they don`t need them anymore and don`t know anyone who
could use them. You can successfully sell some of
these items by Internet auction.
As well, if you pick up bargains from garage sales,
flea markets, importers, wholesalers, closeout dealers
or other sources, these items can also be sold through
online auctions.
3. Drop Shipping
There are suppliers who will ship one item at a time
for you. You don`t have to stock any inventory. You
simply pay your dropship supplier out of the money
you receive from your auction sale. They will ship
the product directly to your customer.
For further information about drop shipping, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/dropship.html
4. Self-Publishing
Do you have expertise in a specialized area of
interest to people? Then, you could publish your
own information product.
A very popular format for self-publishing information
products is the electronic book (or e-book). E-book
compilers, some of which are free, are readily
available on the Internet. When people buy your
e-book, they can download it from your website or
receive it by e-mail.
You could sell such self-published information
products on eBay and other Internet auction sites.
Incidentally, online auctions are an inexpensive
method of testing the market for your information (or
other) products.
For further information about self-publishing, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/selfpub.html
5. Reprint and Resale Rights
You may not want to produce your own information
products presently. Or, perhaps, you may already
have an information product, but would like to
supplement your income with additional, related
product offerings. This is where reprint and resale
rights come in.
You can buy the rights to reprint or resell excellent
information products created by other people. Some of
these rights are inexpensive.
In addition to selling these products from your own
website, you can use Internet auctions to create
extra sales. Another advantage of online auctions
is that they can create additional traffic for your
website.
For further information about reprint and resale rights,
visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/instantpub.html
6. Sell Your Services
Do you design logos or websites? Do you sell consulting
or other services? These, also, can be successfully sold
through eBay and other auction sites.
7. Run an eBay Consignment Shop
There are still people who don`t have a computer or who
don`t use eBay. You could sell on a consignment basis
for them, taking a commission on the successful sale.
You would need to charge for advertising expenses
incurred, such as eBay listing and selling fees.
8. Promote Affiliate Programs through Auctions
Some affiliate programs have brandable e-books that
contain your affiliate link. When people order from
the e-book that they bought from your online auction,
you get credit for the sale. As well, some of those
purchasers may sign up as affiliates, earning you
additional commissions.
Some of these e-books have valuable information that
is worth the nominal value you would sell it for on
eBay. In other cases, such an e-book is readily
available for free. In this latter case, you might
consider selling another related product and offer
the e-book as a free bonus.
For further information about affiliate programs,
visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/affiliate.html
9. Supply Fellow Online Auctioneers
During the gold rush days, it is said that those
who sold picks and shovels were more likely to make
money than those panning for gold. Similarly,
since there is such a big market for online auctions,
you can make money supplying eBayers with information
and auction tools to help them start and grow their
own online auction business.
10. Internet Auction Consulting
As you gain experience and expertise in online
auctions, you might consider charging for your
knowledge.
Consulting services, seminars, information products
and other ways of packaging your knowledge can
earn you additional income streams.
For more information about consulting, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/consulting.html
These are just a few of the ways you can profit
from Internet auctions.
For more information about Internet auctions, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/auctions.html
RESOURCE BOX:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping
clients to earn maximum business profits for over
twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
Permalink
Posted in Legal at 12:00 am by admin
How To Incorporate Yourself Without a Lawyer
By J. Stephen Pope
You could save hundreds of dollars by incorporating
yourself without a lawyer. How? Is it advisable
to do so?
1. This is Not Legal Advice!
The only ones who should be giving legal advice are
those licensed to practise law (in other words,
only lawyers). This article is not legal advice.
If you need legal advice, consult a lawyer.
This article is being written simply to inform you
that it is possible to form a corporation or limited
liability company without a lawyer.
2. Why Use a Lawyer?
First of all, if you make a mistake incorporating
yourself, who do you sue? You only have yourself
to blame. On the other hand, a lawyer has insurance
to cover errors and omissions.
Secondly, you could benefit from the expertise of
your lawyer. Perhaps a corporation isn`t the
right vehicle for you under your circumstances.
Be aware that there can be disadvantages as well
as advantages to incorporating. Your lawyer can
consider commercial law, securities legislation,
limited liability, tax factors, estate planning,
share structure, and a myriad of other business
considerations. Sometimes the advice of a
good lawyer can save you thousands of dollars.
3. Is it Advisable to Incorporate Yourself?
Is it advisable to perform surgery on yourself?
It is illegal to perform surgery on someone
else unless you are licensed to practise medicine,
but perhaps in a wilderness survival scenario,
self-surgery might be your only option. However,
is performing surgery on yourself really a good
idea in most instances?
Likewise, just because it is possible to incorporate
yourself without a lawyer doesn`t mean it is always
a good idea.
In some jurisdictions, only lawyers can
incorporate others. For a paralegal or other
person to incorporate a company for you could be
considered unauthorized practise of law. Thus,
it may be legal to incorporate yourself but not
others.
Some factors you might consider are: Am I really
that short of cash that I can`t spend the extra
money for good legal advice that may save me
thousands of dollars? Am I confident that my
situation is one that really doesn`t need the
services of a lawyer to incorporate? Can the
money saved on legal fees be better utilized in
financing other aspects of my business?
Each person will have to make their own decision
on whether or not to seek the services of a lawyer
in forming a corporation.
“He who has himself as a lawyer has a fool for
a client.” I have often thought that perhaps a
law firm originated this common expression.
4. How To Incorporate Yourself
Many books have been written by lawyers on how
to incorporate yourself.
For example, in Canada, M. Stephen Georgas, LL.B.,
has written books on the subject of forming
your own corporation. Published by International
Self-Counsel Press Ltd., he has authored
“Incorporation and Business Guide for Ontario”
(“How to form your own corporation
Includes tax advantages to incorporating”) and
“Federal Incorporation And Business Guide”
(“How to form your own Federal corporation under
The Canada Business Corporations Act”).
The same publisher sells forms and minute books as
well as titles for incorporating in other provinces
of Canada.
Forms, corporate supplies, name searches, and
kits are available from legal stationers and other
sources.
In the United States, there are likewise many manuals
available for incorporating yourself in various
states. “How To Form Your Own Corporation Without
a Lawyer for Under $75.00″ by Ted Nicholas is one
such book.
Sometimes helpful information on this subject is
available from federal, provincial and state
governments for free or nominal cost.
You can sometimes locate incorporation manuals at
your local library for free. Be careful. Legal
manuals become outdated very rapidly. You might
consider very seriously purchasing the most
up-to-date manual available; it might also include
helpful reference material on maintaining corporate
minutes and other helpful suggestions on operating
your corporation.
Buy the appropriate manual and supplies and then
follow the instructions. With a little effort, you
could save hundreds of dollars incorporating yourself
without a lawyer.
For further resources on incorporation, please visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/incorporation.html
RESOURCE BOX
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping
clients to earn maximum business profits for over
twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
Permalink
Posted in Business at 12:00 am by admin
How Do You Set Consulting Fees?
By J. Stephen Pope
One of the most frequent questions I receive
from those who are trying to start or grow
their own consulting business is: “How and
what do you charge clients for your consulting
services?”
The ways of billing clients are numerous.
There are hourly rates, by-the-job fixed rates,
contingency or performance arrangements,
flat fee plus expenses, daily fee plus expenses,
and many other methods of charging for your
consulting services. Which one is best?
Let us consider some ways of billing for your
time.
1. Hourly or Daily Rate
Many consultants charge by the hour or day.
To establish an hourly or daily rate, they try
to calculate the number of billable hours in a
year. Many hours will be spent marketing and in
administrative and other functions, so this
time is not chargeable to the client. As well,
vacation time, holidays, sick days, and so on,
can not be directly billed to the client.
Consultants, like other businesses, must charge
enough to cover their overhead expenses and also
earn a profit. If a consultant wants to earn
twenty-five dollars per hour of working time,
he (or she) might have to charge one hundred
dollars per hour to the client. This assumes
one half billable hours and fifty percent
overhead and profit.
Your hourly or daily rate may be limited by
what your competition charges, especially if
you have not positioned yourself as different
from them.
2. Fixed or Flat Rate
Some consultants charge by the job or a flat rate.
For example, a tax consultant might charge three
hundred dollars to prepare a tax return for
you and your spouse, including an unaudited
income statement for your business from information
supplied by you. If the consultant takes only one
hour to do this, he grosses three hundred dollars
per hour. If, though, the tax consultant
miscalculates the time required, he could take
twenty hours to complete the job and make only
fifteen dollars per hour.
Of course, consultants can also make a profit on
the labour of their employees or subcontractors.
Many consultants claim to make more on a flat rate
than on a hourly basis. Advantages include being
able to give a quote to the client up front and
less disputes on price (as the total bill was
agreed upon in advance).
To protect yourself on flat rate assignments,
always limit the scope of your engagement to
something that you can calculate easily.
For example, if you are asked to give a quote
for setting up a website for a business, you
might break this project into smaller assignments.
First, you could give a quote for preliminary
research and recommendations. Estimate the time
required to meet with the client, learn about
his business and goals, develop strategies and a
budget, and prepare recommendations on how to
proceed. Then, give the client a quote (perhaps
in the form of a one page letter agreement or
proposal). Upon acceptance of the offer by the
client in writing, you may proceed with this
phase of the project.
Some consultants collect one-half of their fee
up front and half upon assignment completion for
each phase of the consulting project.
If the client doesn`t like your recommendations,
at least you get paid for the work you did.
Perhaps you can charge him to prepare
alternative suggestions.
If your website project was not broken into
smaller steps or assignments, you could find
that you spent way more time on the project
than anticipated.
Also, you might not find out until you present
your bill for the whole project that your client
won`t pay, either because he is not satisfied
with the results or because he is unable or
unwilling to pay.
Breaking down a project into smaller assignments
helps you estimate more accurately and limits
your financial exposure.
3. Contingency or Performance Arrangements
Sometimes clients will ask you to become their
partner. If you do, you are no longer an
objective consultant.
What if your client asks you to do management
consulting for twenty-five percent of the net
profits? Will there even be any profit by the
time he writes off his car, home office,
entertainment, travel, wages to self and
family members, and other expenses?
On the other hand, if you are a marketing
consultant that is absolutely certain
that you can increase a client`s sales, you
may feel confident charging a fee based on the
increased sales volume of the client. Are you
sure your client will co-operate with you in
the attaining of this goal?
Some consultants charge a flat rate plus a
percentage of ownership or profits for their
services.
Fees based on contingency or performance
arrangements are risky. Most consultants are
better off charging a fair price for their
services and leaving the risk of the client`s
business to the client.
4. Value Based Fees
Sometimes consultants can justify fees based on
their value to the client. For example, if you
save a client one million dollars in taxes, your
fee may be higher than normal to reflect the
value of the services rendered.
You might pay an accountant or lawyer a fee of
fifteen hundred dollars based on time for certain
tax related services. What would you be willing
to pay to legally save an extra million dollars
in taxes? Ten thousand dollars, one hundred
thousand dollars, or more?
Can you apply this information to your own
consulting practice? Is there some particularly
valuable service that you can render that would
justify premium rates?
However and whatever you charge, be sure that
your fee is a good value for your client
and also compensates you fairly.
For further Information and resources about
consulting, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/consulting.html
RESOURCE BOX
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping
clients to earn maximum business profits for over
twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
Permalink
Posted in Marketing at 12:00 am by admin
Looking for Sky In All The Wrong Places
By Kim A. Castle
Ever sit with a single puzzle piece of clouds and wonder how you will ever put the
entire sky together? Life as an entrepreneur is often just like that– lots of the little
pieces, creating products, taking care of clients, wrestling with computers, finances,
taxes, etc.– and a whole lot of sky. The big open space where you create a
successful and enjoyable business. There were many pieces of ‘puzzle sky’, I was
drowning in an ocean of sky blue. After over a decade of struggling with my own
company to fit all the ‘pieces’ together, I have finally put together the big business
puzzle– and it’s not what I thought it would look like.
As a sponge for knowledge, I would constantly search for information to help me
grow. Emblazoned in my mind was a quote that I stumbled upon by accident while
researching William Shakespeare in the old, smelly, humid junior high library (thank
goodness for the Internet). “Information is power” insightfully said by Sir Frances
Bacon. At thirteen years old, I didn’t exactly know what power was but I knew I
didn’t want to be a ‘dork’ or a ‘druggie’, like so many of my friends. So, I wanted
power. So… I needed knowledge. I lived for it.
I became a “knowledge” junkie and didn’t ‘know’ it. How ironic is that? I graduated
from college with over twenty more credits than needed because I kept taking
classes. A habit that carried into adulthood, waaay past college, anytime I tackle a
new endeavor or head in a new direction… I take a class. A class– the perfect place
to get knowledge right? Yes, though I found I gave up something for that
knowledge. And I didn’t know it.
For me, every pursuit of knowledge was a piece of “puzzle sky.” I was excited with
the opportunity to learn something new. Exhilarated by the threshold of my un-
dorkiness being expanded. Enamored with the teacher teaching me! Yet at the end
of each ‘learning’ experience, something felt– wrong. Yes, I had gained a piece of
knowledge but felt empty and unattached. So, I would throw myself into another
class, another learning opportunity– ever on my quest for power. I had no idea that
with each learning experience, I was instead seeking permission for the new
undertaking– and was sidetracked by the high I got from the experience of
learning. (Gosh, I hope I’m not the only one.)
With more and more people leaving their cushy corporate job, there’s an explosion
of entrepreneurial workshops and seminars teaching you how to be more, make
more, more, more, etc. With all these portals of power, how do you know what’s
valuable information? Every one of these workshops and the information they offer
are a benefit to you– ONLY IF it is part of your larger picture. So let me help you
now… you don’t need permission to “see” exactly what is inside you daring to come
out.
To be successful you must dare to learn, surround yourself with knowledge, savor
each individual learning experience, HOWEVER always hold it in relationship to your
big picture– your success sky.
You must have a clear vision of the sky… your sky. No one else’s. You get to
establish if it’s blue or green. You get to establish is it’s clear or cloudy. You even
get to establish if it’s up or down. The important thing is that you “see” it, establish
it, create it by surrounding yourself with knowledge to supports that vision.
The next time you are considering taking a course or workshop for your business,
ask yourself these three simple questions:
1. What is my sky?
2. Which piece of my “sky puzzle” does the course fulfill?
3. Can this knowledge help me “see” my sky better or help me create it faster?
Knowing the answers will ensure you get actually what you need.
After all my years of knowledge hunting, I’m amazed to find I am now in the
knowledge-sharing business. Of course, I learned how in an incredible workshop 
(Email me at info@whybrandu.com I’ll tell you about it!). I know you can accomplish
whatever you want. It just takes the right individuals to remind you and expand your
knowledge. I’m honored to have the opportunity to be one of them.
© Castle Montone, Limited All Rights Reserved.
Written by Kim Castle, the Co-founder of BrandU™ — the home of only step-by-
step process for developing your business as a brand from the inside out!
To get information on upcoming BrandU one-day workshops: http://www.whybrandu.com/Public/events/workshop/index.cfm?semID=13“>http://
http://www.whybrandu.com/Public/events/workshop/index.cfm?semID=13
Get your Why You?!(sm) monthly ezine for easy-to-read tips and informative
insights on branding. To subscribe: http://www.whybrandu.com/
“BrandU™ — Big Business Success No Matter Your Size”
Permalink
Posted in Marketing at 12:00 am by admin
A Point in Every Direction is the Same As No Point At All
By Kim A. Castle
Ever try to be something for everyone and find no one wants it? Do you have trouble
finding the time to focus on your business? Do you do so much for so many that
you find it’s difficult to make any financial progress in your business; much less
make an indelible mark in the mind of your potential customers? I found myself on
that road so many times, that I could be a tour guide for Please-want-me-ville.
Where did this come from and how can you get it to stop?
It starts publicly when we’re very young… at school. A moment emblazoned in my
mind was in Mrs. Moon’s kindergarten class. I had just discovered a squirreled stash
of my favorite food, Pepperidge Farms Goldfish Crackers, in the front pocket of my
patchwork dress. I squealed with delight and proudly started munching on them in
the middle of “two plus three”. My delight turned to horror when I heard, “Miss
Castle, I hope you have enough for everyone or you will stand in the front of the
class with your face in the corner!”
Out of nowhere, large beads of sweat developed on my forehead as I desperately
searched every inch of my two-inch square pocket for enough goldfish to feed the
entire class. Even though we were only on “addition”, somehow I knew that four
fishes and a tail wouldn’t cut it. With my face in the corner for those very long
twenty minutes, I vowed that I would always have enough to make everyone happy.
In business, these fish have come back to bite me over and over again; until I
started teaching people how to brand. Now they can ‘gold-fish’ for themselves.
As a teenager, I developed ‘I don’t have enough friends’ syndrome. Not being one of
the ‘cool-n-popular’ types, I had to buy my friends (I hope I’m not the only one who
did this). And since I wasn’t the brain, I couldn’t find my value in helping friends get
“A’s. I did everything else: the grunt work, the labor, the runs to the store, the ‘kill-
the messenger’ calls, the kind of stuff that took me away from most of the ‘friend’
action. I did so much that I had no time to develop the relationships that I wanted in
the first place. I was spread so thin… I was transparent! No wonder for the first few
years of my business, I worked unbelievably hard but had nothing (no money, no
value) to show for it. It wasn’t until I turned my focus inward that I really started to
build something of value that customers wanted.
A few dictionary definitions of focus:
1. concentrated effort or attention on a particular thing
2. a concentrated and unified quality
3. the quality of being sharply defined with clear edges and contrast
A few dictionary definitions of inward:
1. situated within something
2. relating to or existing in the mind or spirit
3. toward the inside or center of something
Your business can never be developed as a brand until you first:
a) suspend the need to be something for everyone, and
b) sharply define with clear edges from your inside or center
The challenge to our business success grows when we compound these learned
behaviors with the entrepreneurial fear that we need to be attractive to e-v-e-r-y-
o-n-e in order to survive. Especially because we don’t know when and from where
the next customer will come. I’ve done that dance too. (You know, the one when you
get off the phone with a new client closing a “new tiny project that feels huge
because it’s the only one you have ‘dance’).
If you identify at all with this, how’s it working for you?
For me it didn’t! Nothing did until I:
1) deeply connected to what I offered, found my uniqueness in it and built on the
internal power of it (the first part of the BrandU™ process), and
2) communicated it consistently with precision and quality (the second part of the
BrandU™ process known as CLICsm).
The points of effort that you are sending out in every direction – squandering your
focus externally, trying to be something for everyone, doing so much that results so
little – all start from somewhere. That somewhere is a place that you control. The
seeds of your brand are planted there. Don’t be affected by your programming,
program your success. I promise you that if plant it there and tend it, it will grow,
and grow, and… grow! And you will be filled with joy and financial success, and the
freedom to enjoy it.
© 2003 Castle Montone, Limited All Rights Reserved.
Written by Kim Castle, the Co-founder of BrandU™ — the home of only step-by-
step process for developing your business as a brand from the inside out!
To get information on upcoming BrandU one-day workshops: http://www.whybrandu.com/Public/events/workshop/index.cfm?semID=13
“>http://
http://www.whybrandu.com/Public/events/workshop/index.cfm?semID=13
Get your Why You?!(sm) monthly ezine for easy-to-read tips and informative
insights on branding. To subscribe: http://www.whybrandu.com/
“BrandU™ — Big Business Success No Matter Your Size”
Permalink
Posted in Ecommerce at 12:00 am by admin
The ClickBank E-Commerce Solution
By J. Stephen Pope
ClickBank.com can offer you multiple solutions for
your e-commerce business. Here are some of the
advantages of using ClickBank.
1. Accept Credit Cards Without a Merchant Account
If your product is downloadable (such as electronic
books or software), ClickBank may be an excellent
solution for you. For a $49.95 initial fee, you can
process credit cards and on-line cheques for $1.00
per transaction plus 7.5% of sales.
2. Start Your Own Affiliate Program
With ClickBank, you have your own built-in affiliate
program. You decide what commission (from 1% to 75%)
you would like to pay your affiliates.
To learn more about ClickBank.com, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/buy/clickbank.html
3. Receive Free Advertising
You receive additional exposure through free listing
on the ClickBank website and through the search
facilities of other websites, such as CBMall.com.
To learn more about CBMall.com, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/buy/cbmall.html
4. Obtain Referral Commissions
Even without applying for ClickBank credit card
processing, you can earn referral commissions on
thousands of ClickBank Marketplace products.
To learn more about ClickBank Marketplace, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/buy/clickbank-marketplace.html
5. Eliminate Sales Tax Problems
Are you registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) for
online transactions for European Union (EU)
countries since July 1, 2003?
Are you collecting the appropriate state or
provincial sales taxes?
If you are a Canadian, are you aware of your
obligation to collect Goods and Services Tax (G.S.T.)
and Harmonized Sales Tax (H.S.T.) on Internet
transactions?
Again, ClickBank may be your solution. ClickBank
is registered for EU purposes and adds the
appropriate VAT to each transaction.
As well, to deal with ClickBank, you must agree to
sell your product to them. ClickBank then resells
your product to their customers. Thus, ClickBank
becomes the retailer responsible for collecting
sales taxes — not you. Obviously, ClickBank will
not be subject to sales taxes in most jurisdictions.
Since ClickBank is located in the United States and
can only sell or use the products it sells from
there, it would appear that Canadian G.S.T. and
H.S.T. would not be applicable to them.
Of course, this is not legal advice. To determine
your liability for sales and similar taxes, consult
your lawyer and accountant.
To read more about sales taxes on Internet
transactions, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/e-commerce-tax.html
Considering its many advantages, ClickBank may well
be your e-commerce solution!
Resource Box:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping clients
to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
Permalink
Posted in Branding at 12:00 am by admin
I’d Buy That: Getting A Brand Mindset
By Kim A. Castle
Feel that? The crisp tingle in the air? It’s fall. Fall ushers in the promise of eating,
seeing, and getting. It’s my favorite time of year. By now, kids are settled into
school, sweaters set free from mothballs, and it’s an amazing time to… BUY.
I don’t know about you; but for some reason this time of year lowers my normal
customer resistance to retail and turns up my desire to buy, buy, buy. And not just
anything. Products I’ve come to know have reliable value to me. You too?
Think about it. It starts with buying Halloween candy. Do you reach for the no-name
orange cellophane wrappers of chocolate dots, or do you buy the mini packages of
M&M’s? I know! Me too! Why is that? It’s the same thing! But, the brand of M&M’s
represents a certain quality that we have come to know as valuable. And left with
candy at the end of the evening, that’s what I want to be gobbling on. It doesn’t
matter how long the product has been on a shelf, an M&M is still an M&M.
A favorite thing I like to do in fall is cruise through the stores and see what “they”
think “we’ll” buy. This past weekend, I stepped into Crate & Barrel (a personal
favorite) and went weak in the knees!
I walked from beautiful table setting to even more beautiful table setting and I
thought about the perception that Crate & Barrel had created in me. As I drooled
over the dishes, I imagined how the quality of my life would change if I brought
them home. (A little bubble appeared to the side of my head. I saw an image of me
overhearing holiday guests comment about how beautiful my table was, and
subsequently how great I was.) The bubble faded as I dissected how Crate & Barrel
created that impression in me. How did they get me to think that?
I passed through living room settings that I would give my left pinkie toe to own (it’s
okay, I’m right footed). I ran my hand over the fabrics and textures. Rich leathers.
Deep colors. Luxuriant fabrics. All things I’d spend my money on to give my 10-year
old living room a facelift. They established in me a certain quality! And somehow
they knew what areas I needed to fix up… my boring dining room dishes, my tired
living room. Hmmm… Hmmm… a specific quality and knowledge of my problem.
At each display was a sign that had a certain look. A color. A typeface. Even the way
it was laid out on the page! It all matched the quality I got from the home décor
items I so desperately wanted. (By the way, I never knew I wanted an orange pear-
shaped leather vase before.) I picked up their holiday catalog. Lo and behold, not
only did it show the picture of the coveted pear-shaped leather vase, but the
typefaces and colors matched the signs in the store. Hmmm… consistent
communication and imaging. I started to tingle.
As I passed the jewel-toned velvet pillows, I thought, “Crate & Barrel is no different
from the companies and small business owners that we help.” They are no different
from YOU. Or are they? Let’s see…
You have:
• A product or service that is every bit as good and valuable as Crate & Barrel.
• You fix a problem or change the quality of life for your clients as much if not more
than Crate & Barrel.
After that, it can break down for small businesses and solo-preneurs.
You may not have:
• Consistent imaging (e.g., business card, website, brochures, leave-behind,
product packaging, etc.)
• The deep understanding of how to communicate “the brand” of your business that
can translate to your entire support team/staff. (This is easy and affordable to do
with BrandU. That’s why it was created.)
And most importantly, what most entrepreneurs tend to forget or, sadly, never
deeply establish:
• A huge, non-wavering belief in what you are bringing to people.
You have just as much of this as the people who created Crate & Barrel. They just
have more practice at it and had enough vision to bring in partners to help them
grow and communicate it.
The last three points are crucial to your business success and easier to address than
you think. Simply:
• keep up the value of your service and product AND,
• adopt a brand mindset!
It’s where EVERY brand starts BEFORE they’re a brand. In our upcoming book, Why
BrandU, we go into the reasons why it’s imperative for entrepreneurs to gain the
power of branding. You CAN have large business success, no matter what size you
are.
This holiday season, I share with you these TWO simple brand mindset tips:
• As you’re out (or online) shopping, pause a moment and think about the reasons
you buy the things you buy and,
• See how you can apply those reasons to your business.
After strolling around Crate & Barrel for over an hour (which flew by like 5 minutes),
I joyfully left with the most amazing vase for my table AND I was filled with a great
sense of delight and excitement; knowing YOU can be just as big!
© 2003 Castle Montone, Limited All Rights Reserved.
Written by Kim Castle, the Co-founder of BrandU™ — the home of only step-by-
step process for developing your business as a brand from the inside out!
To get information on upcoming BrandU one-day workshops: http://www.whybrandu.com/Public/events/workshop/index.cfm?semID=13
“>http://
http://www.whybrandu.com/Public/events/workshop/index.cfm?semID=13
Get your Why You?!(sm) monthly ezine for easy-to-read tips and informative
insights on branding. To subscribe: http://www.whybrandu.com/
“BrandU™ — Big Business Success No Matter Your Size”
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Posted in Ecommerce at 12:00 am by admin
How To Accept Credit Cards Without a Merchant Account
By J. Stephen Pope
To increase sales on your website, you must accept credit
cards. To process credit cards, you could apply for a
merchant account through your bank or other financial
institution.
Sometimes, though, you would be further ahead to use the
services of a credit card processor. This is especially
true when you are first starting out and have more
limited resources. In this way, you may process credit
card transactions without the high front-end costs and
requirements of a merchant account.
Here, then, are just a few ways of accepting credit cards
without a merchant account. I personally use all of these
vendors and can recommend them wholeheartedly.
1. Clickbank
If your product is downloadable (such as electronic books
or software), you might consider ClickBank.com . For a
$49.95 initial fee, you can process credit cards and
on-line cheques for $1.00 per transaction plus 7.5% of
sales.
You receive additional exposure through free listing on
their website and through the search facilities of other
websites, such as CBMall.com .
As an added bonus, you have your own built-in affiliate
program. You decide what commission (from 1% to 75%) you
would like to pay your affiliates.
2. PayPal
PayPal.com has no initial fees. For just 2.9% of sales
and $ .30 per transaction (and sometimes less), you can
receive money from anyone.
Also, you can pay others by credit card or chequing account
without supplying your personal credit information to the
payee. PayPal can be used to collect money from your
auctions, website sales, or even from friends or clients.
3. PaySystems
PaySystems.com can handle either intangible (downloadable)
or tangible (shippable) products. For an initial fee of
$49.00, you can accept all major credit cards as well as
online checks. Fees are just 3.95% of sales and $1.00 per
transaction. Alternatively, you may pay 5.5% of sales and
$ .35 per transaction.
For this, you receive shopping cart, integration with
third-party affiliate programs (such as ClixGalore.com ),
fraud screening, multi-currency transactions, toll-free
support, marketing tools, and more.
For more information on how to accept credit cards without
a merchant account, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/creditcards.html
RESOURCE BOX:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping clients
to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
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Posted in Management at 12:00 am by admin
Using Outlook to Count Responses
By Robin Henry
Here’s a productivity tip that will save you a lot of time and trouble if you need to collate responses from staff for any reason, especially if you work for an organisation with a lot of staff.
Case Study: I worked for a financial institution with 3,000 plus employees and had to identify how many employees needed compulsory training in certain legislation so that we could plan and resource the training.
I emailed everyone within the centre with a request that if they had not completed the training within the last three months, they were to reply to my email without changing the subject line. They were to reply by a certain deadline … any queries were to be sent via a new email addressed to me and I explained why.
I created a folder called ‘Legislation Training’ and used Rules Wizard to divert any email received with the subject line: ‘Legislation Training Requirement’ into the folder. Every time a new email arrived it automatically went into the folder and Outlook incremented and displayed the number of unopened emails in the folder in brackets at the end of the folder name. It looked like this: ‘Legislation Training (125)’.
By the deadline all I had to do was look at the end of the Legislation Training folder to see how many people needed the training. No counting … all done automatically by our productivity tool Outlook 2002.
As the fast talking salesman on the television said, ‘And there’s more!’
When I was asked for a list of the names of those who had responded, all I had to do was export the Legislation Training folder emails to MS Excel. Excel allows you to choose the fields you export. I chose the ‘From’ field and finished up with a list of names since all email addresses were in the format WILLIAMS Royston. Once in Excel it was a simple matter to sort them into alphabetical order.
Not only that, I could now email 20 people at a time and advise them when and where they had to attend this mandatory training.
This is an excellent way to deal with large numbers of people and, although Outlook does have options for creating forms with yes/no buttons and so on in them, it is more complex than this option.
I hope this short article has been of interest to you and that it helps you improve your work performance.
Robin Henry is a human resources specialist who provides support to small businesses keen to improve organisation and methods. He operates his home-based business from Central Australia and his site is found here http://www.dwave.com.au
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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:00 am by admin
Primitive Navigation in the Outdoors
By Greg Rouse
Everyone has been in the outdoors at some point and wondered which direction they where traveling or possibly even been lost. So if you don’t have a compass, how does the average person figure out direction of travel?
Here’s 3 different methods to try during the daytime:
- Shadowless Stick Method: Place a stick in the ground and then move or adjust it until the shadow disappears completely, soon it will reappear with the shadow running roughly East/West.
- Shadow Stick Method: Place a stick in the ground and mark the tip of the shadow it casts with a small stick or stake in the ground. Then wait 10 minutes and repeat, after 30 minutes or longer, you’ll have a row of small sticks marking the East/West line (North/South is perpendicular to this line).
- Watch Method: Take a fine stick and place it in the center of the watch hands (do not use a digital watch), hold the watch level and rotate the whole watch until the sticks shadow is parallel with and/or falling over the hour hand. 1/2 way between the hour hand and 12 o’clock is North/South.
(Here’s the digital watch version: Just draw a basic watch pattern on paper with the hour hand indicating the correct time and repeat the steps above based on the correct time).
And lets not to forget you nightime travelers, here’s 4 different methods for you to try during the nighttime:
- Cresent Moon: Draw a line from tip to tip in a straight line and where the line hits the horizon is roughly South.
- Big Dipper Method: Draw a straight line through the two stars that make up the end of the pot (opposite the handle) and continue this line away from the opening of the pot until it intersects a star known as “Polaris” (the North Star) and you have North.
- Latitude Method: Look at the North Star and hold your 1st arm straight out and parallel with the horizon, now point your 2nd arm straight at the North Star. The angle between your arms is roughly the degrees latitude (i.e. 45 degrees).
- Latitude Stick Method: Put a vertical stick in the ground, align a 2nd stick with the 1st stick and the North Star, then place it vertical in the ground. Now, slide your thumb and eye down the 2nd stick until the North Star is aligned with the tip of the 1st stick. Mark the spot and measure the angle from a parallel line with the ground and the line you created from the tip of the 1st stick to the spot you marked on the 2nd stick. This is your latitude and the 2 sticks are pointing in a North/South line, which means perpendicular to this line is the Easy/West line.
In the final analysis, there’s many ways to navigate with a little help from nature. Our forefathers used these methods for years and probably only got lost once in awhile…
About the Author:
Greg Rouse has been teaching wilderness sports and emergency response at the university and college level for over a decade. He is also the founder of a unique web site called WildernessTrip.com, a one-stop resource for self-guided wilderness trip planning. This web site is basically; a free online guidebook that photo-documents trips with interactive maps and detailed route descriptions. Each trip has free pictures and free topographic maps of the trail, all in a print-friendly format. Check it out at http://www.WildernessTrip.com
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