Finance at the Community Level
July 24, 2010 by hchambers
Filed under Business Financing, Business Tips |
Over the next several months we will discuss issues that touch on economics, community friendly businesses and practices and organizations that empower you to move from victims to victory in finance. Ownership is the solution in our community to any discussions about finance. Ownership means that you have skin in the game of finance. I challenge you the reader to respond to my commentary and tell your inspiring stories of ownership that improves our community. Tell us who you feel is positive for our community and why.
Ownership became real when buying and paying off the mortgage for our commercial building. The ability to purchase was a gift from GOD, a milestone in my business career, and a source of pride for my family and community. The journey to the picture above did not start out being a positive experience. We had leased spaced for some years and were scared to take a leap of faith to ownership, so God created a situation that forced us to make a positive change. We were evicted from a leased space because the property owner filed bankruptcy due to family death. We had thirty days to relocate our business (we had run out of space in our office in the home years earlier and had small children). We located three possible office sites but chose a location five minutes from our home and five minutes from our children’s schools. The building was not in any working condition for a business office. We met the owner, Mr. Johnston pictured above. He initially did not want to sale the property. As a matter of fact he did not want us to know that he owned the property. We negotiated owner financing for the property and delayed the first payment for three months to allow us to make needed renovations and system improvements. It took us more than five years to make the necessary improvements to upgrade the commercial building. God blessed us with additional income for the next seven years and we accelerated mortgage payments of principal and interest to get to the picture you see above. This is a picture of the final payment made to pay off the mortgage on our commercial building and you will notice that I am the only one that is smiling and so is my wife who took the picture.
Our journey to ownership started in 1987 when my wife and I started our company. We had no children at the time and started the business out of our home as a way of further using our graduate degrees in accounting and business management.
Nothing can prepare you for the uncertainty business ownership, but a do not give up attitude and asking lots of questions can arm you with some of the right resources.
Ownership does that to you, makes you smile and changes your possibilities for your community.
We think ownership is the most motivating and empowering part of being a business owner. What do you think? Email us at problmslv@aol.com or check out our website: www.chambersconsultingLTD.com or call us at 205.780.7903
Harry Chambers Jr. MBA is co-owner of an award winning accounting, strategic planning and management consulting firm established in 1978. Chambers Consulting LTD is located in the western business section of Birmingham. Chambers Consulting LTD, mission: To advise and consult with business owners, nonprofits and individual wealth accumulators from an entrepreneurial perspective about strengthening their businesses for better communities by providing long-term financial management expertise that is unavailable to them internally; with a focus on planning business solutions, financial reporting, cash management, budgeting and tax planning. Website: www.chambersconsultingLTD.com
Put the E-mphasis on Local Internet Marketing and reach first page on Google
April 27, 2010 by Urbanham Business
Filed under Advertising and Marketing |
The concept of Local Internet Marketing is simple but requires skill to master effectively. Google provides a local business listing facility which not only contains key information about a business trading, such as opening hours and payment types accepted but also is designed to deliver relevant page 1 results as part of any locally focused searches. E-mphasis have combined this theory with their tailor made optimisation services and have produced results which are literally astounding.
4×4 Hire company John Dennis decided to explore the potential of Local Internet Marketing with E-mphasis last year. As a direct result they have seen a significant increase in new business and during the last quarter of 2009, grew their fleet by 25% - even in the recession!
John Dennis was well positioned for the bad weather in January and at its peak, saw upwards of 45000 appearances on one of their business listings on a 30-day period, something they had never experienced before with other search techniques.
The business listings facility provided by Google has recently been extended to provide even further accessibility through smart phones and notably, personalised search, which Andrew Rayner, MD of E-mphasis believes will further enhance the effectiveness of Local Internet Marketing.
“Localised marketing online is something many people don’t really understand, as the messages we hear about online strategies tend to be aimed at targeting customer segments rather than drilled down to location, recent searches, personal preferences, etc. The reality is that from the smallest independent retailer through to the world’s largest retail chains, Local Internet Marketing can sit alongside traditional search techniques and it makes a very real and tangible contribution to the bottom line.
Recent research by the Kelsey group has shown that a 97% of consumers research local purchases online before buying and in particular, highlights the benefits of coupons and online reservation or booking, so placing your company on the first page is often crucial to gaining valuable market share. The new
personalised search function, the facility where Google adapts your results pages based on your search history, will enable businesses to target their customers even more effectively based on their search preferences,” says Rayner.
ENDS
Notes to Editor
E-mphasis is an online marketing company specialising in Search Marketing. They provide professional and credible natural search optimisation services to ensure that businesses can deal with what the future brings. The company is based in St Albans, Hertfordshire and was founded by Andrew and Clare Rayner.
Andrew and the team at E-mphasis have also pioneered an innovative use of Google Maps and online business listings to create highly targeted Local Internet Marketing strategies. Local Internet Marketing is a hugely untapped area of marketing strategy and one which, thanks to E-mphasis, is now beginning to generate interest and excitement from major UK retail brands.
Andrew Rayner and a spokesperson from John Dennis 4×4 Hire Company are both available for interview.
For any enquiries please contact Becky Lewis on 01603 742892 / 07866 739306 or email becky.lewis@mediajems.co.uk
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The 2009 Brand My Business Contest
June 6, 2009 by Urbanham Business
Filed under Advertising and Marketing, Featured |
Get ready for your chance to win a $5,000 Marketing Package for your small business! If you have a small business and need a branding campaign or an existing small business and would like to refresh your look here is the chance to win over $5,000 worth of branding and marketing services!
What you can win!
- A professionally designed website ($ 2,500)
- 5,000 full color fliers or 5,000 mailers ($ 350.00)
- 1,000 full color business cards ($ 150.00)
- $ 2,000 worth of advertising on Urbanham.com
Contest begins June 10, 2009 and here is what you need to do to enter.
- Simply add your business to our small business directory. Click here.
- Then create a short video (30 seconds or less) promoting your business. Remember to include your name, services offered and contact information in the video. Videos must be 30 seconds or less and can be created with your video camera, digital camera, web camera or cell phone. Feel free to be as creative and entertaining as you would like!
- Email your video to brandmybiz@urbanham.com using YouSendIt.com
Officials Contest Rules to be posted on June 10, 2009. So get started today and tell your family and friends that also have businesses about this great opportunity!
5 Tips to Survive Today’s Economy
April 7, 2009 by Urbanham Business
Filed under Business Tips, Featured |
By Joel Blakley, Business Credit Services
Everywhere you turn, you hear more doom and gloom. Believe it or not, I’m confident and upbeat. I am a firm believer that in every situation, regardless of what the news sources say, there is opportunity. I put together some tips for you to consider. Perhaps one or more of them will help you. Take a look:
1) Get up and fight!
Over the last year, many small businesses have failed. Consumer confidence is very low, and people are less willing to spend on items that aren’t a necessity. We all know this. We hear it every day. In my position at Business Credit Services, I speak to small business owners constantly. I can tell morale is low. I tell these clients that now is the time to seize the day. Your business might be down, but you have to get up and fight for it! Examine everything you do in your business and think of ways to make it more efficient and more effective and make the absolute most out of every single customer contact.
2) What differentiates you from your competition?
Now more than ever, you need a compelling reason for people to use your business. What does your business do to stand out? What single thing do you do better than everyone else? Why would it be a huge mistake for a customer to use your competitor instead of you? Those are all questions for which you need to have very compelling answers. Everything your company does, from advertising and marketing, to the quality of the services you perform, to the way you interact with your customers, needs to embody these things. Your clients need to constantly be left with the feeling they made a great decision to do business with you. If you succeed, you will have lifelong customers. Lifelong customers translate into having a business that is more resilient to economic downturns.
3) Where’s your passion level?
When you get up in the morning, do you still feel passionate about your business? If you do, what makes you love it? If you don’t, why don’t you? It is vital to clearly understand what makes you love working in your business. When you are facing difficult times, it’s easy to feel like you lost that “spark” that drove you to open your business. If it’s gone, you need to recover it. Without it, you won’t be as inspired to make the changes and be as agile with your decisions as you need to be. What changes can you make to your business, and to your personal life, to reignite that spark?
4) Think out of the box? Throw away the box!
I’m not a fan of always doing things the same way. I spent a significant length of time at a very large software company. Many times, I’d suggest ways to improve our services and increase efficiencies. The most common response I’d get was: “We’re not sure we should do that because we’ve always done it another way.” This is possibly the most toxic way for a business to think. For crying out loud, what makes entrepreneurs successful is thinking of different ways to get things done! If Apple Computers thought this way, the IPod would never have taken off. If Boeing thought this way, we’d still be flying propeller planes. If Henry Ford thought this way, we’d be riding horses to work! Worry less about changing the way you do things and concentrate on doing them well.
5) TURN OFF THE NEWS
Can it be any surprise that consumer confidence is lower than anybody can remember? Every time I read the paper or watch the news, I hear about how bad things are. Even our elected officials are telling us the economy could move into a full-blown depression. I’m a pretty calm guy by nature, but when I hear this, it REALLY TICKS ME OFF! What happens to consumer confidence when the very people we elect tell us that the sky is falling? The answer, of course, is that consumers worry more about the economy and spend less. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy! Imagine what would happen if our leaders came out and said, “Things are going to get better.” What if the major news services published stories telling us it’s not 1929 all over again? Guess what would happen? THEY’D SELL FEWER NEWSPAPERS! The fact is, reporting good news doesn’t sell as well as reporting the bad. Remember this fact: Fear sells newspapers!
Here are a few facts to make you feel better. According to a Small Business Administration (SBA) fact sheet:
- Half of all private sector jobs are with small businesses.
- 45% of all payroll is paid by small businesses.
- Between 60-80% of net new jobs in the last decade were created by small businesses.
- Half of our Gross Domestic Product (Less Farming) is created by small businesses.
- 52% of small businesses are home based!
Small businesses like yours are what make this economy work!
Blogging Your Way to a Successful Online Business
February 28, 2009 by admin
Filed under Business Practices, Business Tips |
Blogging began as keeping a journal, or diary, online that others could read and interact with by posting and responding to comments. The term originated as a combination of web log. Now blogs can be big business. And businesses often have their own company blogs.
Blogging is a promotional tool for your business. The blog can announce new products, post press releases, give tips and tricks, and answer customer’s questions. The blog is a personalized way of communicating with potential buyers rather than a faceless corporation. Most blogs have the
ability to allow readers to post
comments which leads to an interactive experience rather than one sided.
There are several free blog hosts, including livejournal.com, blogger.com, and wordpress.com. It’s easy to set up a blog and no limit, other than your own energy, to how many blogs you can own.
Wordpress.com can be installed on your company’s domain rather than on the wordpress site. The software is free and relatively uncomplicated to install and maintain.
Money can be earned through blogging in several ways. Blog posts can be sold to advertisers to promote their products. This is usually done through clearing houses which match the blogger with the advertiser and take part of the advertising fee as payment.
Reviews of products, movies, and books can be posted on a blog and an affiliate link included in the review. If a reader buys the product, a commission is paid on the sale.
Google Adsense can be placed on blogs. Google’s program looks at the words used in the blog and then matches those key words with relevant ads. The more relevant the ads are to the content of the blog the better. When a reader clicks on an ad you’re paid a fee by Google.
Blogs need to be updated on a regular basis. If you don’t have the time or the inclination to do it yourself, hire someone to do it for you. Or assign an employee to maintain the blog. Posts can be sent to you for approval before posting to the blog.
Blogging is a way to introduce your business, establish trust with your readers, and boost the sales of your company.
10 Steps to Excellent Customer Service
February 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Business Practices, Business Tips, Featured |
We’ve been hearing for years that the United States is becoming a service economy. If that’s true, and our success (or failure) hinges on the way we deliver customer service, why are so many companies so bad at it? You see it in so many companies that deliver services that it no longer is surprising when it happens. We’ve become so used to it that it doesn’t even faze us any more.
The Importance of Customer Service in Today’s Marketplace
February 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Business Practices, Business Tips |
source: associatedcontent.com
Most anyone will agree that customer service is one of the most important parts of your company’s overall strategy to conducting business. Without customers you really don’t have a business. If this is the case, why is it mostly everyone as consumers can easily cite examples of poor customer service in their daily lives? I believe every company either has or thinks it has good customer service. However, if certain steps are not taken to ensure this, the reality of their situation is often far worse than their current perceptions.
How to Get an SBA Loan
February 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Business Financing, Business Tips |
source: birmingham.bizjournals.com
The U. S. Small Business Administration offers a variety of loan programs for small businesses. But there are two main points to keep in mind if your business is considering pursuing one. First, the SBA does not directly make loans; that’s the job of financial institutions. And secondly, SBA-backed loans should be seen neither as a first recourse or a last resort. “The SBA guarantees loans - it doesn’t actually lend money,” says Carol Kuc, president of the National Association of Women Business Owners. “So it’s important to develop a relationship with a banker - one that makes SBA-backed loans.”