The Money Lab

Attending a trade show can be a very effective method of promoting your company and its products. And one of the most effective ways to optimize your trade show display and increase traffic to your booth is through the use of banner stands.  A banner stand for your trade show display draws attention to your booth and helps you deliver your message to prospective clients, current customers and business contacts at what is usually a highly competitive event. Your trade show display should stand out from the crowd, and a banner stand is a great way to make sure it does. Banners themselves are typically constructed with either fabric or vinyl. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of material, so you should consider how you will use your banner stand before deciding between fabric and vinyl. Fabric banners are durable and long-lasting. Fabric doesn’t reflect light like vinyl, which can decrease your banner’s readability.  Fabric banners also don’t bend or crease so t...

How much is your time and expertise worth? Its the age old challenge for consultants: how much do I bill my clients? Sadly, there is no set in stone answer, however, here are some tips that will help you establish your rates. First, lets look at your client's needs. Why are they hiring an outside consultant, when they have employees? There are several reasons why your client is interested in hiring you as a consultant: a) third party opinion - employees know where their bread is buttered, so they are less inclined to go against the current direction of the company. As an outsider, there is no concern with offering a different opinion. Your independent opinion can provide a much needed, focused perspective your client's company needs. b) you are cheaper - this is what is normally the hardest for new consultants to understand. How can you command $75/hr when your client has reps working for $20/hr. It normally ends up with the consultant charging a lower rates. No more! The emplo...

You are contemplating setting up a small online business you should realize it is simply to down to a numbers game. The difference between businesses that succeeded and ones that do not is down to their conversion ratios, meaning the ratio of visitors who actually become paying customers. If one in 50 of your visitors become a paying customer, then you will have a conversion ration of 2%. All businesses should aim to increase this ratio, simple things like using enticing tactics such as a sale can help. The trouble is nowadays people seem desperate for visitors, they panic and pay for batches of visitors. Unfortunately these systems rarely increase your conversation ratio at all; in fact all they do is give you a false perception of your business.  A lot of online small business owners make 3 mistakes: 1. They put Google Adsense/affiliates everywhere, in my opinion these are good systems but they do detract from your core business. 2. They make their websites too complicated, w...

Successful businesses have many things in common, today we’ll look at the big ‘R‘of recognition and how a digital advertising network may help. Recognition can be illustrated by two individuals entering a crowded room at a party.  Both walk to the far side of the room, one of them slips through the crowd easily and unnoticed as they reach the far side.   The second person takes much longer to reach the far side because they are engaged in conversations along the way as they continue to meet acquaintances and friends during their path.  Which type of person would you like to model your business after?   Your business is in a continual battle for your customers’ recognition whether you know it or not.  If you happen to be fortunate enough to be in a marketplace with very few competitors, that will not last for long.  You need your business to be at the forefront of your client’s minds so that when they require your products or services, you are the ...

In today' s modern, sophisticated and fast world, online classifieds have become a medium of communication among the internet users. On one end it is informative and on the other end it is convenient and cost effective. In this scenario, the online classified websites have occupied one among the top ranking sites on the internet due to its vast popularity among the users. Today there are n number of classifieds sites on the internet and some of them are not only useful but are also impressive giving its users a chance to place ads in different categories such as jobs, real estate, for sale etc.  Where as newspapers has limited approach to people compared to on line classifieds where it can reach the millions of people at single click. This can be said as one of the major reasons for the recognition of the classifieds sites. The responses one receives through placing their ads in classifieds sites is far more than compared to news paper ads or print media ads.  Due to these eff...

With the internet still in its infancy stage, there is always the next big thing when it comes to advertising.  The first one was e-mail marketing, the people that started e-mail marketing in the very beginning have made and will continue to make loads of money.  If done properly with no spam and with a highly targeted list, as long as you have a solid product, e mail advertising will make you loads of money.   Then came the “pop up” and in my opinion that was not good for anyone.  Pop-ups are annoying even if you do click on them every now and then, they are still annoying.  It's sort of like when you move from your home you have to handle everything in your house, whether you are moving it to take with you, or if you are going to be throwing out, it has to be handled.  Pop up ads have to be handled. Fast forward past all of the obvious ways to advertise online.  Now we come to the pixel craze, and that is the next big thing.  Some of the be...

The purpose of a safety program is to involve employees in achieving and maintaining a safe, healthful workplace. This program will have a safety committee that will discuss and find solutions to problems that can cause accidents, injuries, and illnesses. Fewer accidents, injuries, and illnesses will lower your workers’ compensation costs and insurance premium rates and can increase your profit. There are steps that must be taken for a safety committee and program to be an effective one. These steps will include: In holding weekly safety meetings and if your business has 10 or fewer employees, it would be beneficial to have employees attend safety committee meetings. Low-hazard workplaces such as office settings may substitute monthly meetings for weekly meetings.  Discuss what everyone can do to achieve or maintain a safe, healthful workplace. Focus on just one important topic, such as controlling an existing hazard or identifying an unsafe work practice. If you have a constructio...

What do you do when an employee disagrees with something you’ve written on their performance review? How can you prepare for this and deal with it effectively? Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee’s customer service skills were unsatisfactory; she feels that her skills are terrific)?  If the disagreement involves an issue of fact, get the facts and make any corrections necessary. If it’s a matter of judgment, ask the employee for additional evidence. Then determine whether that evidence is weighty enough to cause you to change your mind, revise your judgment, and amend the rating that you assigned on the employee’s performance review. Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in t...

You need a website, but how can you tell the professional business web site developers from the college kid in his basement? The answer is fairly simple if you know what kinds of questions to ask.  Professional web site developers are just that - professionals.  They have college degrees and/or experience related to web site development. They understand small and medium size businesses for it is likely they are one too. Most importantly, they speak to you in your language, not theirs. Purchasing a web site is a form of advertisement for your business. Would you pay for the development of a radio or television commercial if you were not sure you would get a return on your investment?  Why risk your professional reputation by trying to get the cheapest site possible just so you can put the www.yourbusinessname.com on your business card? If you have seen the work of a web site developer and the pages look great, do they contain keywords, titles, and descriptions to help sear...

Of late, the topic of succession planning has sparked much concern. However, it seems few organizations have heeded the warning. According to a Human Resource Planning Society and Hewitt Associates study, fewer than 60% of companies have a succession plan in place. Below are some of the most common myths about succession planning.  Myth #1: If there are no imminent retirements, succession planning needn’t be a top priority. According to a survey conducted by Capital H, nearly 22 percent of respondents expect to lose between 10 percent and 25 percent of their top performers to retirement within the next five years. These top performers play a significant role in a company’s success, often serving in high-level, supervisory roles.  For successions to progress smoothly, the people chosen to fill these roles need to be prepared and adequately trained. That process takes time.   Myth #2: Succession planning is only an issue for big companies. 85 to 95 percent of all the c...

Affiliate marketing is all about the promotion of products of an online company. The affiliate sign-ups with the advertiser or marketing arm of the online company and the affiliate becomes an active searcher of potential clients. Such set-up of affiliate marketing can become easily successful if the affiliate is aware of the importance of advertising. Advertising is the means to make a great portion of the consuming public become aware of a certain product or service. Thus, advertising should be attractive and should be appealing to the consumers. If the advertising is not appealing enough, it will not be effective. If the advertising has pulled the attention of the consumers, then such advertising is powerful. To make one’s advertising effective and powerful, an affiliate must use the smart methods of advertising. One such method of advertising is the re-use of one key concept of affiliate marketing. This key concept is the harnessing of human resources. That is, an affiliate may tap ...

The main aim of advertisers is to communicate and influence the prospective customers to buy a particular brand’s product. Often they also advertise in order to improve the brand image. For this purposes every major medium and advertising tool is used to deliver their message. Some of the key mediums like television, radio, cinema, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet and billboards are used extensively. To advertise, a company usually appoints an advertising agency or advertising industry to send their message across. Commonly, advertisements are seen on carts, airport, on the sides of buses, buss shelters, etc. Advertisements are cleverly placed at places where viewers can easily and regularly access visual, audio and printed information. Mentioned below are some forms of advertising: Advocacy Advertising: This type of advertising is done mainly for economic, political, or social issues. Advocate Advertising can be in the form of advertisement, message, or public communic...

Imagine how much simpler your life would be if you had all your business contacts together in one place. One click of your mouse would reveal how effective your latest marketing campaign has been. Know at a glance which of your products/services is the most profitable. Your custom-designed database will put this information right at your fingertips. Today, I'd like to share with you my tips for ensuring that your database gives you the business information you need, when you need it! What is a database? A database is a collection of information relating to a particular topic kept together in one place, for you to access whenever you need. You can use a database to simplify your: MARKETING CAMPAIGN--set up a database to plan your marketing  campaign; track results of your marketing campaign; or analyse trends in your marketing campaign. CLIENT & CONTACT MANAGEMENT--set up a database to keep track of your clients and contacts; analyse your business--which products/services are th...

So you've decided to start your own business - congratulations! It's a huge leap from letting someone else take care of taxes, accounting, payroll, inventory, and/or a myriad of other activities necessary to run a business. However, running your own business has its advantages, too.  You get to be your own boss, set your own hours and days to work, and are responsible for your own success. It can be a great way to free yourself from the tedium of 9-5 and work at doing what you love, but you have to begin by asking a few questions:    1. Are you doing what you love, or just doing something you’re good at?  A desire to get away from the regular working world can be a good motivation to work for yourself, but you have to be excited to get up in the morning to do what it is you have chosen to do for a living. 2. What is it you are planning to do? What niche is it going to fill? Is there a need for what you can provide? Will the market bear another entry? 3. What technica...

Apart from newspaper advertising, a system of leaflets, cards and catalogs can be operated to a business advantage in marketing its products and services.  One week a business owner may send out leaflets, next week he may mail cards with a nicely written message calling the attention of the recipient to make some action, then the week after that a tasty catalog may float along – talking about good work, good stock, prompt deliveries and affordable prices.       As most of you are probably aware of, catalogs are a good way to market all kinds and types of products. From products with general appeal to products that fits a specific market, catalogs and other direct marketing materials can be your key to being successful in the ever crowded marketplace. Catalogs offer new and interesting products to their customers each month, quarter or year depending on the business. Catalogs also like to promote products that are not easily found at retail stores, products that ...

Greetings to everybody who writes press and news releases. We'd like to share with you the information you need - new releases files format ROFX. We are sure this word ROFX (or jokingly rofix) is something new you never heard of before. So, if you have a smallest relation to press or news releases writing we hope this site will help you very much. So what is ROFX? It is an abbreviation for Public Press Releases Open Format XML. What is the purpose of ROFX? To make press or news releases creation comfortable and simple. In fact, ROFX files are one part of the system intended to make releases posting more progressive. What this means? ROFX - is an XML based file format that helps to organize release information - release content and author's information. It organizes files, the ROFX system is a very comfortable helper to hold them as project. There is a system for ROFX posting, moderation, API for releases sharing with web sites. This API is realized in different languages, so yo...

Corporate Team Building generally refers to the selection and motivation of teams for fulfillment of organizational goals. Our society is increasingly becoming a multi-cultural one and you are required to work with different groups of people and expected to get along with them as a team.  This is more in the case of transnational and multi-location conglomerates. Corporate Team Building Techniques are methods to help people adapt to these new requirements. Your corporate team building skills are critical for your effectiveness as a manager.  Even if you are not a manager, your understanding of team building makes you an effective member of the corporate team. Corporate Team Building Techniques can make your team accomplish objectives as a team rather than working on their own.  There are certain factors that are critical to Corporate Team Building. You may have a strong fusion of individual contributions. Diversity of skills and personalities are quite effective in Corpor...

With the increased challenges that all companies are faced with, many corporations have implemented various initiatives to continue to grow corporate earnings and shareholder value, some have discovered the strategic value of corporate awards and corporate gifts.  From the boardroom to the front lines to the client across the country, corporate awards and gifts offer many benefits to enhance performance. Not only are you showing your appreciation to the employee or customer, you setting a standard of thanks for the hard work and dedication.  Corporate Awards Benefits: A company’s success depends on its employees and their abilities. With the incentive of a corporate award or corporate gift you attract and retain current employees to pursue for more in the workplace. Corporate awards are great for:  • Direction  • Talent Retention  • Sales Goals  • Public Relations  • A Direct affect on the company’s bottom line.  Things to Consider when giving a C...

Customer security is one of the prime considerations of any retail outlet today. Whilst implementing key marketing strategies in order to promote products and increase sales, retail managers also need to be thinking about how safe their customers feel in-store and ways they can improve the attractiveness of their space for shoppers. 3 Proven Ways To Protect Your Customers 1. Lighting Good lighting is a key aspect of the customer experience. Stores require lighting that allows customers to see what they are doing and to ensure that no area of the shop is dimly lit or dark, as this is where thefts or attacks could occur.  This is particularly important in fitting room areas and in toilet and baby-change facilities where customers are out of the general flow of the shop and there is a reduced staff presence. 2. CCTV systems Customers are comforted by the presence of CCTV systems in retail stores. They know that these systems are designed to prevent crime and automatically feel safer i...

The 1980's business culture in the USA and internationally put a considerable emphasis on personal reward on the basis that highly motivated individuals could transform organisations and societies. The extreme example in film was Gordon Gekko in Wall Street stating that greed was good. The 90's, however, have seen companies traumatized and bankrupted by the inappropriate use of remuneration as a motivator. Yet major corporate successes have been built on reward based remuneration systems. Phones4U recently and Allied Dunbar in the financial services market is an earlier example. The notorious Barings Bank had individual traders on bonuses in the millions yet in the long term these motivated individuals were not fulfilling the company's objectives. Moreover even when an individual's reward system is based on entirely appropriate performance indicators, resulting in the organisation’s success and he or she is rewarded, there may still be problems arising from the large di...

Top networking marketing opportunities, also known as multi-level marketing opportunities, run rampant on today’s Internet.  You’ve no doubt received some kind of solicitous e-mail or seen some kind of advertisement in the margins of a web site you’ve visited that talks about amazingly easy ways to earn thousands of dollars with a simple home based business. The truth behind many of these “top networking marketing opportunities” is that they are using the sign-up fees from new members to pay dividends to existing members rather than actually generating any revenue from legitimate products and services.   So no matter how much money they promise to make for you, if you can’t see any discernible product or service of value involved in the opportunity, you can assume that this is one of those “top networking marketing opportunities” that is actually an out and out scam. The truth is that for many of these top networking marketing opportunities, only one out of every fifty or...

Giving business cards is an art, not only because they are needed to be considered successful or because, in fact, they represent your corporate or professional identity, but also as an opportunity to impact your existing or prospective customers, and stay in touch with them, helping you to deal confidently. The scope of business etiquette includes considerations that many professional ignore, or simply do not pay enough attention in the belief that a business card is just a small paper rectangle with a name and phone numbers to introduce yourself.  Color business cards demonstrate that there is something else beyond a simple paper cut; otherwise, they simply would not exist. Certainly, all over the world business cards are used to provide information about a company and/or the employee or professional who holds it, as well as contact information and other details such as business acquaintances or personal details. Some of them include expressly empty spaces to write certain detail...

As the name suggests, MLM (Multi-Level-Marketing), basically involves selling a company’s product directly to the customer by way of networking. Traditional retail selling is left to the brick and mortor businesses. MLM is executed through a multi-layered distributor system where payments by the company are made to the distributors according to the distribution level they are in. Distributors are responsible for the business development and the revenue generation for the company.  The products sold are those that are used daily. Generally MLM is done by the companies that are offering products of regular use, such as, soaps, detergents, car wash, containers and cosmetics. This is not an exhaustive list, it's merely a sample. The convenience of shopping is another strong feature of MLM. Generally, MLM supports online shopping and at times even people network makes the shopping process easy. The distributor goes to the customer’s house, workplace or wherever it's convenient to bo...

Which one will you be in network marketing? The truth is the odds are against you; chances are you’ll be a statistic. Hmmmmm bet the super star space commander upline guru that signed you up or wants to sign you up told you that did he/she?  Here are a few stats that may alarm you: Did you know that 70,000 people sign up into a network marketing company EVERYDAY?  But did you know that 95% of the people that sign up into a network marketing company will quit within the first year? WHY? Well there are a lot or reasons, poor support, poor company, poor product, poor compensation plan, poor upline. But to me one of the biggest reasons is… PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LIED TO!! Most people have been lied to from the get go. Many of the people who are recruiting people into companies (hate that term recruiting) are lying to people and telling people what they want to hear so they will join their company. Now on one had you can’t blame many of these people, there’re just doing what they were ta...

Networking is obviously an essential part of network marketing. Every successful network marketer knows this to be true. Although networking is such an intricate part of network marketing, the two terms are not synonymous. However there are many similarities.  Both rely heavily on people skills. Both require people to confront their fear of talking to other people. Both carry with them the risk of rejection. Both also carry with them enormous opportunity. And to some people, both are considered dirty words.  Of course people that consider networking as something that is 'not done' don't understand what networking is really about. The same can be said of people that think network marketing is something that is beneath them. Many people think of networking as a way to get connected solely for their own advancement in life. In that respect a person might feel that it is unethical or not noble to network.  This line of thinking stems from the idea that advancement will always...