NorthStar Solutions - Small Business Story</h1> <article> <h1>NorthStar Solutions - Small Business Story</h1> <p>Jeff Camino — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:06:57 GMT</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">I started my business in 1994, which was essentially pre-Internet days (at least before it became the commercial entity we know it as today). I was writing software programs and needed a way to take orders easily. At the time, it was customary for software developers to put an address in their documents and ask for donations. Of course, if they ever moved, the address they had would quickly become outdated. The whole process of having to mail in checks and wait/hope for a reply was clumsy. So I decided to set up an 800 number and get a merchant account to accept credit card orders telephonically. As it turned out, a lot of other independent software developers needed the same services, so the process was quickly expanded as an order call center. Before long, it was a very busy phone line, and I had to hire some help to answer phones and take orders. <br /> <br /> A couple of years later, I decided to give the "Internet Concept" a try, and expanded the process to accept orders via the Internet. At first the phone-in orders outnumbered Internet orders due to so many people being concerned about the security of e-commerce. Over the next couple of years, however, the phone began to ring less and less, and Internet orders were the most common type of orders received. Each month, I saw more Internet orders and less phone order. The efficiencies of automation that the Internet provided came at a perfect time and helped me keep up with the demand of more orders coming in each month. As people became more comfortable with placing orders via the Internet, the part-time college students I had answering the phones were sitting around in silence, so I shut down the phone operations and concentrated on adding more features to the Internet system. Although, I had less staff, business was booming and profits were better than ever.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span> </span><br /> Of course, my business survived the infamous "Bubble Burst" or I would not be writing this today. It survived because unlike some other businesses at the time, we had a viable business model that even today still makes sense. Now, I run a full-featured e-commerce business wherein our clients maintain their own Web pages, but at the point of needing an order-processing system, they outsource that part to us since that is what we specialize in. It enables them to focus on the core business, knowing the e-commerce end of things is easily taken care of by our system.<br /> <br /> It was a matter of having the right idea at the right time, combined with a lot of long hours of work to get the infrastructure built. We continually make improvements, and I am having as much fun as ever. About one year ago, I switched our hosting services to a more robust VPS system with Network Solutions, and I have been extremely pleased with that decision. Before, customer service was "hit and miss" at best, and our web pages were loading slow as more and more demand (by customers as well as with the technology we were using) was being put on the system. With the new solution we have with Network Solutions, our Web pages load fast, and things are working as good as ever. Also, if I ever need assistance (such as installing a new SSL Certificate), I can pick up the phone and get professional, expert help from a friendly customer support person.<br /> <br /> It's been a great ride, and the trip is far from over!</span></p> <p> </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Best Valentine Gift for Your Beloved – Sweet Video Slideshow</h1> <p>Dwight Genius — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:38:55 GMT</p> <p>In this February, color balloons, cards, candies, flowers and a great selection of cupid gifts are flooded across towns as usual, all in the name of St. Valentine's. Valentine's Day is a great occasion for loved couples and amicable friends to deepen their relationships with various gifts.</p> <p>Generally, a creative and cute gift is no other than a perfect choice to reflect how profound your love and care are for your beloved. Instead of a traditional gift-from-shop, you can make something yourself that is fit to your sweetheart. A DIY valentine video should work well in incubating an air of romance. It is easy to achieve merely in several steps.</p> <p><strong>First, take MS to draft a valentine presentation.</strong></p> <p>As to video-making, may be taken into the first consideration. It is a wonderful tool to author an enticing presentation with a host of effects including animations, sound tracks, movie clips and chic pictures. You can compose a stunning presentation injected with every element of the Valentine's Day, e.g. love poem as text, sweet photos as background, nice music across the slideshow, and your own voice of love as narration.</p> <p><strong>Next, convert the valentine to video format. </strong></p> <p>After the valentine presentation is completed, convert it to a portable video with <a class="info" href="http://www.dvd-ppt-slideshow.com/ppt-to-video/"><strong>Moyea PPT to Video Converter</strong></a>. It is a reliable software program that can help you quickly create your valentine video from , while retaining every subtlety of the original work. If you forgot to add a soft song as score in the , you can also put one in with the to video converter. The whole conversion takes only a few minutes.</p> <p><strong>Finally, connect the unique valentine video to your unique one.</strong></p> <p>When the presentation is output to a video file, you can set it secretly onto the mobile device of your beloved at the eve of the Valentine's Day. When it comes to the very moment, she/he should be surprised by your special gift. Just get all geared up with your darling and turn on the cheerful mood to watch a sweet video slideshow together.</p> <p>Sounds not bad for the Valentine, doesn't it? So come on and celebrate the Valentine's Day with a romantic video of you two. Let your lovely gift, or your love and care, always be with your beloved, at any time, any place.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Romantic Movie</h1> <p>Dwight Genius — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:28:09 GMT</p> <p>Though a fortnight afar, Valentine’s Day 2010 has had its appearance in the air of early February. Roses, Chocolates, Cupid, love letters, cards, romantic CDs, crafts, and a vibrating heart that talks. This year, would you like to give a more creative gift to your valentine? A wonderful gift idea is to make a music Valentine movie using and a smart conversion tool like Moyea PPT to DVD Converter.</p> <p>Things that You Need for a Valentine Video:</p> <div class="content"> <li><strong>MS (2003 and above)</strong></li> <li><strong>Sweet photos, cute ClipArts</strong></li> <li><strong>Love songs/music of your favorite</strong></li> <li><strong>Love letters for your honey</strong></li> <li><strong>Microphone if you are to record a narration</strong></li> <li><strong>Blank DVD disc to burn the Valentine movie</strong></li> <li><a href="http://www.dvd-ppt-slideshow.com/ppt_to_dvd/"><strong>Moyea PPT to DVD Converter</strong></a></li> <p>Ready? OK. Let’s go over the easy production of a special movie for your valentine.</p> <h3>1. Make a Valentine photo album in </h3> <p>In , click <strong>Insert</strong> -> <strong>Photo Album</strong> -> <strong>New Photo Album..</strong>. to import the sweet photos you want to use for the Valentine movie. You can also add in a small <a href="http://www.dvd-ppt-slideshow.com/blog/free-valentine-hearts-download-valentine-heat-cliparts/">valentine clipart heart</a> to achieve more. Still under <strong>Insert</strong> -> <strong>Photo Album</strong>, select <strong>Edit Photo Album</strong> to edit album layout, frame shape and add in captions to a selected photo.</p> <p><em>Note:</em> For quality graphic effect, you’d better optimize the photos before insertion, e.g. compress the size and enhance the visual effect with image editing tool like Photoshop.</p> <h3>2. Add a Template for Your Valentine Movie</h3> <p>A soft background is necessary to the love creation. Apply a default theme (Under Design tab), or click the links below to get a simple sweet template for your valentine movie.<br /> <a href="http://www.dvd-ppt-slideshow.com/dvd%20***-knowledge/dvd%20***-templates.html">Free Valentine Templates</a><br /> <a href="http://www.dvd-ppt-slideshow.com/blog/get-free-valentines-dvd%20***-backgrounds/">Free Valentine Backgrounds</a></p> <h3>3. Allocate animations, transitions to the Valentine slides</h3> <p>You don’t want a static flow of photos, do you? So do not forget to add in a dynamic effect or wipe, e.g. animation and transition to your valentine slides. Meanwhile, avoid overuse of the effects.</p> <h3>4. Tender Music Talks</h3> <p>So what is the tone of your Valentine movie? Romantic. Romantic feeling can be invoked by wonderful love music. Insert a favorite love sound for your valentine movie. You can set to play it with a certain effect or from the start to the end.<br /> <a href="http://www.dvd-ppt-slideshow.com/dvd%20***-knowledge/sound-across-slides.html">How to play a Valentine sound across all the slides?</a></p> <h3>5. Record the love letter as narration</h3> <p>Why not involve yourself in? Your sweetheart must be happy to hear a love letter from you. Wear your microphone, go to <strong>Slide Show</strong> tab, in the <strong>Set Up</strong> group, click <strong>Record Narration</strong> to start recording the love letter you’ve written for your beloved.</p> <h3>6. Rehearse the whole Valentine presentation</h3> <p>Done? No, don’t make it into movie until perfect. Rehearse the whole valentine presentation, and check each element, particularly the animations and transitions, to make it work smoothly.</p> <h3>7. Finalize the Valentine presentation to movie</h3> <p>Now it is time to convert the valentine presentation to staggering movie. You need a conversion tool like Moyea PPT to DVD Burner to do that. Download and install the <a href="http://www.moyeamedia.com/download/ppt2dvd/ppt2dvd_setup.exe">PPT to DVD Burner</a>. After importing your valentine presentation to the burner, you can also do the following:</p> <p><strong>* Add a love logo for your Valentine movie</strong><br /> Use the Logo feature in the converter to add in a romantic love logo for your valentine DVD movie.</p> <p><strong>* Frame the valentine DVD with a love DVD menu</strong><br /> In the PPT to DVD burner, under the Menu tab, choose a love template as outskirt of your valentine movie. Later, you and your lover can watch the holiday movie via a remote control.</p> <p>Pop in the blank DVD disc to your PC. Choose the output to HD DVD, make advanced settings, and click Burn to convert and burn the valentine presentation to DVD. A few minutes later, you can get a valentine movie of your own.</p> <p>Voila. Imagine how surprised your valentine appears - when she/he watches your love creation on TV with a DVD player on Valentine’s Day.</p> </div><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>The Most Important Power Tools You Need Ever</h1> <p>Bill Adam — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:05:26 GMT</p> <p>There is always something to repair or put back mutually when you own a home. Particularly if you are a brand new house holder, you may not have every tool around the house that you might need for these sorts of job. Here is an inclusive list of power tools that you cannot live without if you are a landowner. You will need them from the simplest job of just putting collectively the outside furniture to doing entire refashion of the house, so keep this list with you when you go to the home development center or hardware store for shopping.<br /> <br /> This is a short and comprehensive list of five power tools, but they will make your life easier now that you are a house owner. All of the daily jobs that a landowner must do can be performed with just these cord or cordless tools.<br /> <br /> <b>1.</b> Cordless drill. You need a cordless drill to drill a lot of holes or very big holes. Also, if you don't wish to switch the screws when you are utilizing a cordless screwdriver, you can utilize the drill. They can be utilized to make pin holes for screws. Usually a landowner will use a 3/8 inch spot. More than that is treated as commercial size.<br /> <br /> <b>2.</b> Corded Drill. A cordless drill may not have great power, so it is not vital if you are working on a large plan or working with heavy objects. You can't use corded tools just wherever because of the cord, but you can add extension power cables.<br /> <br /> <b>3.</b> Cordless screwdriver. A cordless screwdriver is essential for all of the minute jobs you will encounter. If you would like to hang a photo, you can pre-drill a hole in the fence to make that job easier. If you need to place together furniture or toys, this screwdriver will make those jobs simple and easier. You can even utilize the reversible switch and unscrew everything you put incorrectly!<br /> <br /> <b>4.</b> Jig saw. If you want to cut patterns to fit into an odd place, such as cutting around ends, where a perfect fitting is necessary then a jig saw will be better choice.<br /> <br /> <b>5.</b> Power circular saw. Once you have utilized a saw a small number of times, you will be glad about having a power saw. They are more capable in cutting large sections of wood such as 2X5s, or sheets of lumber. A power circular saw can slice a depth of up to 3 inch panel. If you are planning to do any major remodeling, you have to have a power circular saw.<br /> <br /> If you have these 5 power tools, you will come to know that you can do just about any job in the house. Owning a beautiful house is bliss but if it's easier to work by yourself around your home, you will get even additional joy from it. So, get these five important tools, and you will be equipped for anything that may happen around the house.</p> <p>All these cordless tools and <a href="http://www.toolorbit.com/Categories/Cordless-Drills-Drivers.html" target="_blank">cordless drills</a> are exclusively available at ToolOrbit.com, a website that brings wide variety of <a href="http://www.toolorbit.com/Categories/Power-Tools.html" target="_blank">power tools</a> at an affordable price with rebates on different products.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>eCommerce Profile - UltimateBabyBoutique.com</h1> <p>becky goudy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:37:23 GMT</p> <p> </p> <div class="entry"> <p>Becky is a mompreneur from St. Louis, MO. At night, she runs a successful online baby boutique, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ultimatebabyboutique.com/" title="Ultimate Baby Boutique, Baby gifts delivered, unique gift baby, unique baby gifts - Home">UltimateBabyBoutique.com</a>, that has doubled its gross sales each of its last three years in business.</p> <div style="width:461px;" class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_191"><a href="http://www.ultimatebabyboutique.com/"></a> <p class="wp-caption-text">(source: ultimatebabyboutique.com)</p> </div> <p><strong>How did you get started in ecommerce?</strong><br /> Always the ‘online shopping maverick’ among my family and friends, I was bitten by the ecommerce bug in September of 2006 when a friend asked me to make her a diaper cake for her sister-in-law’s baby shower (I’m also really crafty). I found I enjoyed making the cakes so much, and they caught on amongst family and friends; that I decided to put them online. After giving birth to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ultimatebabyboutique.com/" title="Ultimate Baby Boutique, Baby gifts delivered, unique gift baby, unique baby gifts - Home">UltimateBabyBoutique.com</a>, my husband suggested I add baby clothing to my product offerings because it is quicker to ship (no assembly required) than the diaper cakes. I’ve been obsessed with ecommerce ever since!</p> <p><strong>What successes have you seen in ecommerce?</strong><br /> Our first year online was really slow. We didn’t do any marketing, and really didn’t focus much on the site. By the end of 2007, we found a really popular niche product, started some Adwords advertising and finished up the year with about $25k in gross sales. Last year we added more products and tripled that number. This year we are on pace to hit $125k in gross sales. Even in the down economy, people are still having babies!</p> <p><strong>How do you get traffic to your Website?</strong><br /> My main source of traffic right now is paid search. I’m a firm believer in it, especially for new sites. However, paid search can get really expensive, quickly; and if you’re not careful, can tremendously eat into your profit margins. So this year, I’m focusing on keeping paid search advertising constant and focusing more on social media (Twitter™), sourcing mom blogs for reviews of my products and giveaways, and email marketing. Email worked very well for us in the past, but lately we just haven’t put much emphasis on it. I also love product feeds (Google® Base), and since ours is now automated daily, it seems like we get more traffic from there than ever before.</p> <p><strong>What are your biggest challenges?</strong><br /> Our biggest challenge is watching the financials. Online, it’s tough to get big margins on product since everyone competes on price. We work at balancing increased advertising costs with ROI on products. It’s a constant battle.</p> <p>Also, product buying is a great challenge. Remember I said I was a shopping maverick, so I love to buy things! It helps that I always find great lines, but it’s tough deciding what to buy from a big line and finding the time to get it on the site just the way I want it. It’s easy to get distracted from your product mix goals with many product reps vying for your attention. I like to sit on a line for about a month before I buy it. I want to make sure that I don’t act too hastily and bring in product that doesn’t sell well (I have been burned here in the past!). Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate between a really cool, niche product that would fit well in another boutique and something that goes really well in our store. We want to be different from the rest, but not so different that we don’t make sense to our customers.</p> <p>Fulfillment is a big challenge, too. Since we’re small, we rely on a few part-time workers to fill orders. If you go to those big ecommerce conferences, they will tell you that it’s all about keeping down the “average cost to fill order”. We struggle with that a lot because we have many people touching the process along the way. It’s tough to find new ways to communicate and stay on the same page (new products coming in, backordered products, etc), while minimizing mistakes (since they are expensive to fix). The upside of this, though, is that while we do make some mistakes, customers are usually understanding. We <em>always </em>make it right, and the customer usually ends up with a discount or free stuff for their trouble!</p> <p><strong>What aspects of running an online store do you like the most?</strong><br /> I watch out for every order…<em>like a hawk</em>. My heart literally flutters every time I see that “New Order” email come in! I love seeing what products people order, and my favorite part is picking the orders. I love knowing that these products will go to people who will love them and use them for their children.</p> <p>Another favorite of mine is tweaking the site. This is probably a bad thing because I probably over-tweak sometimes. I just can’t leave the site alone.</p> <p>I have gotten great amusement out of mining my Google® Analytics logs as well. I enjoy sifting through all the natural search keywords to see exactly how people are finding my site.</p> <p><strong>What tips would you share with others trying to grow their ecommerce business?</strong><br /> Keep trying! We all suffer from cash flow problems. A Top 500 guy I talked to said that when he and his partner were first starting their site, they each had 8 credit cards maxed out from buying product. You can’t do it all at once. You will grow, just at a slower pace than you might like. Success will still be there waiting for you in the end. Be patient.</p> <p>One thing I love about ecommerce is that it’s instant. One tiny change that I make can have a huge impact on sales. Be willing to make these changes, but be willing to change back if they fail.</p> <p>Post your site everywhere. Send links to friends, coworkers, loved ones. Get yourself on Facebook®, MySpace®, or Twitter™ (or all of the above!). Talk with people in forums, give advice freely and seek advice often. We can all help each other!</p> <p>Have fun! Ecommerce is definitely not a ‘make money in your sleep’ kind of business. It takes just as much hard work and dedication to run an ecommerce store as it does brick and mortar, so you have to enjoy it.</p> <p>Ask your customers for feedback! Ask them what product lines they want to see. Ask them what features they’d like your store to implement. Ask them how you can help them (often!). If you ask they will tell you. Then do what they ask (but if you ask, make sure you do follow through). Send them a non-sales email every once in a while just checking in and asking how you can make them happy. Give a coupon to those who respond to you.</p> </div><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>eCommerce Profile - Genesis Body Care</h1> <p>C Douglass — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:14:17 GMT</p> <p></p> <p><b>When did you get started in E-Commerce?</b><br />I have worked in the web design industry for 9 years. I launched my first E-Commerce site in August of 2008.<br /><br /><b>What type of growth have you experienced since starting your site?</b><br />We have had over 200 orders in the first 6 months and are building a strong base of return customers and word of mouth orders.<br /><br /><b>How do you get traffic your site?</b><br />I am using PPC (AdWords, YSM and adCenter) to get qualified traffic to the site. Orders from previous customers and word of mouth referrals have been steadily increasing. I am improving my product desriptions day by day to increase organic SEO for the right keywords. We use our E-Commerce software’s Product Feeds feature as another source of traffic. Also, one of our top lines only sells wholesale so they referring callers requesting smaller quantities to our site.<br /><b><br />What are some of your biggest challenges?</b><br />I am starting out small with no real investment capital. Choosing the right product lines are incredibly important since I can’t really afford to buy inventory that doesn’t provide a return. In order to buy new inventory I need my purchases to provide a return as quickly as possible.<br /><br />Another main challenge to me as a sole proprietor is that the amount of work can be overwhelming. Making sure that product description are unique and effective and optimizing PPC ads and landing pages is an ongoing and time consuming process. There is always something that can be improved.<br /><br />Reducing costs that eat into profit margins is another key concern.<br /><br /><b>What aspects of running an online store do you enjoy the most?</b><br />To me there are many exciting aspects. The fact that a new idea or a new line could greatly increase sales is really encouraging. I feel like we are always a step away from breaking into a new level of success. We try to provide excellent customer service. Compared to many industries, usually the smallest effort in dealing with customers can result in a great customer experience.<br /><br /><b>What tips would you share for others trying to grow their E-Commerce business?</b><br />Read as much industry related info as possible. Visit retail stores to find new products and merchandizing ideas. Keep a close eye on your costs and work to reduce them, especially regarding your Pay-Per-Click ROI. That can eat into profits quickly if not managed well. Also, get feedback from people in your target market on potential product lines.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Small Business Story: Newsforce, Inc.</h1> <p>Dana Todd — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:05:11 GMT</p> <p><b>1. Please give us a brief description of your business.</b><br /><br />Newsforce Network gives marketers an always-on voice in the online news media, through placement of "storytelling media" or sponsored content on premium news sites. We replace what is ordinarily a banner ad with our unique storyboards and editorial treatment. The result is that customers can enact their own content strategy to change public perceptions, one story at a time, without having to solicit journalists to write about them. It's like a mashup between advertising and PR, and it ultimately gives companies more control of their brand messages in news media online.<br /><br /><br /><b>2. What inspired you to start your own business?</b><br /><br />This is actually my second business. My first was an interactive agency called SiteLab, which was started by a group of partners. We became nationally known for our search marketing expertise and web development. It's still going strong. <br /><br />My parents were both entrepreneurs, so the idea of *starting* a business has never frightened me much - what I never expected though was how difficult it is to *grow* a business.<br /><br />In the case of SiteLab, I was pretty lucky in a way. There was already a working business - we bought our division of a larger company when we were threatened with shut-down. A few of us got together and said "We think we can do something with this" and we offered a buyout for the assets and clients. When we started, there were just five of us doing the work that was previously done by about 14 people.<br /><br />As for Newsforce, it was an idea that had its genesis at SiteLab, and it has been generously incubated by them and two other companies who are shareholders. I've always been blessed with an ability to think of interesting business models and to sense trends in the wind, but ideas are nothing unless you can implement them. So, with a skeleton crew again, and an amazing CEO (Vince Bianco), I've been given the freedom and resources to build a completely new product sector in the internet marketing space.<br /><br />We have been primarily bootstrapped by founder investment, but we also have raised some angel money and anticipate additional capital raises shortly.<br /><br /><br /><b>3. In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges faced by entrepreneurs and small business owners?</b><br /><br />In my opinion, the same issues challenge all sizes of business: capital and talent. If you have great talent, you can get by without capital for a while but you'll have trouble at some point getting beyond the label of "small business" unless you have a solid plan for scaling (and a business model that scales - service businesses are notoriously hard to scale because they rely so heavily on the people who implement the service), and the capital to make the plan happen.<br /><br />Not to jump on the "whining about whippersnappers" train, but now is especially challenging for businesses who are hiring young people in the Gen Y category, because they notoriously will not stay at a company for more than a year or so. It's ultimately quite damaging for any company to have a constant rotation in its staff, but it's especially painful for small companies which often can't absorb the shock. I've seen it happening over and over to my colleagues, and the frustration can dampen a leader's desire to bond with the troops since there's a constant abandonment of the company and its vision. Ultimately, you end up with disenfranchisement all around. So, you should probably plan to hire a mix of ages, and have a failover system in place from the get-go.<br /><br />I think for most entrepreneurs, it's a shock to realize that not everyone is as committed and passionate as you are, and that's just a normal thing in any generation. The trick is to assume it upfront, and to build enough process and training from day one, so that you can more easily absorb impacts in staff changes.<br /><br />One of the other big "ah-ha" things I've learned is to do a significant amount of research upfront to more accurately drive the business plan. Don't sign a lease or lay down a website until you've exhaustively interviewed a significant number of potential customers, researched the growth rate of similar companies, and talked to a few competitors to get the real story. Yes, I said talk to a competitor - you don't have to tell them your business plan, but think about it - if someone approached you and said, "I'm thinking about starting a company that's similar to yours; would you mind if I ask you about some of the challenges you had in building your company?", you'd probably give them at least a conversation. Most mature business leaders aren't afraid of competition - they're more afraid of NO competition, which means that you're probably in a declining sector.<br /><br /><br /><b>4. What obstacles did you face when you first started your business and how did you overcome them?</b><br /><br />The biggest overall obstacle for Newsforce, other than the darned recession, is that it's actually ahead of the market somewhat, because we're building a whole new segment in Internet marketing.<br /><br />Per my earlier advice, I wish I had done more customer research before we started Newsforce. Like most entrepreneurs, I had the hubris to believe I needed to guard our "secret sauce" so much so that we only used third-party research about the market and buying patterns of the public relations companies out there. Ultimately, we spent time and money chasing a market that wasn't mentally ready to embrace our model, and weren't typically given the kind of budgets we expected. The good news is we were able to change our focus and target market without significantly changing the product itself, but we could have been there a lot quicker if we'd done more qualitative research with the people we thought would buy our product.<br /><br />We also faced a leadership struggle early on, because we were all trying to be nice and give all the shareholders equal voice and control of the company, which is a ridiculous power model. Companies can't be democracies. When we finally gave in and brought in an outside CEO, it helped us to establish more clear lines of authority and direction which ultimately freed the company to move forward efficiently.<br /><br />By the way, regarding "secret sauce" - you're probably not the only one to have come up with it, so dismiss that thinking right away. Ideas are free, and a lot of people have them; the real challenge and the real value you can build is *implementation* of that idea.<br /><br /><b><br />5. What advice would you give to someone who is contemplating starting his or her own business?</b><br /><br />Decide upfront if you're building a legacy business, or if you want to get out in X years and sell the business. You must make that decision today because it ultimately will affect everything about how you design the company.<br /><br />If you're building a legacy business, one that you want to hand down to your grandkids, then invest primarily in customer service and employee training/process early on, and also spend the cash to brand yourself properly. Remember, once upon a time Nike was a small business - the thing they did differently was build high quality shoes that had a "brand mystique" which differentiated them from other sneakers. In a commodity market (and all successful market sectors eventually become commoditized), your ONLY defense is a great brand, but brand is more than just a logo: it's also a sum total of the experience customers have with your product and company.<br /><br />If you're looking for an exit strategy from day one, the factors for success are already established: you must hit $10M in revenue and show consistent 20% profit margin in order to get any kind of decent payout from a buyer. If your business plan can't model into this with any credulity, then you've got a mismatch on your vision.<br /><br /><b><br />6. How has networking helped you grow your business?</b><br /><br />You can't grow any business without people and networking. Business is all about the human connection. Studies have shown that 75% of all word-of-mouth referrals happen in person or in an electronic dialogue (phone, email), and those conversations drive the majority of business out there. If you're not meeting people and sharing yourself with them, you're missing out on potential education, connections, investors, and customers. <br /><br />It was through networking that we found our CEO. It was through networking that we got our initial angel investors and beta customers. We use social media as well to help spread the word and to solicit product feedback, and to establish our thought leadership in the industry. Virtual networking is a good complement for face-to-face, but the two work best in tandem.<br /><br />In this downturn, my personal network has been a godsend. Since everyone is strapped for cash, we're all trying out various creative bartering arrangements to keep our businesses thriving. We've done some great partnerships for co-marketing and even job-sharing. It's a blessing to realize that when the chips are down, the natural inclination of my colleagues is to band together and drive our way out of the storm.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Property Direct From The Owner - Advertising My Property For Rent Privately - Where do I start?</h1> <p>Paul Wilson — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:59:08 GMT</p> <p> </p> <p style="line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif';">Many people now own a second home or investment property. During the past few years average families along with investors have chosen to put their hard earned cash into bricks and mortar rather than shares or bank accounts. Tempting low overseas property prices in countries such as Bulgaria, Turkey, Egypt and Cape Verde to name but a few have competed with the more established property markets of Spain, Portugal, France and Florida. </span></p> <p style="line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif';">Property owners may have bought off plan - reserving an apartment before it is built or at any time during the building process - intending to sell on before completion and make a profit, others may have bought with the intention of using the apartment or villa as a holiday home or perhaps future retirement or more permanent home. Whatever the purchase reason, it makes sense to make an overseas property earn its keep! Why have an apartment sitting empty for the majority of the year, when it could be rented out and earning thousands of pounds in rent? In the current economic downturn it makes sense to maximise any financial opportunity that you may have access to. Rather than take a second job, work overtime or cut down on your expenditure - if you own a holiday home then why not make it work for you!</span></p> <p style="line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif';">Once you have decided that you would like to create an extra income stream and rent out your holiday home you need to decide how much of the year you want to rent it out for. For example, if you hardly use the property and would like a guaranteed income each month you could consider renting the property out on a long term let. Long term rentals can be extremely popular in areas where there is a large ex-pat community such as the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Dubai and France. This would ensure that you have a guaranteed rental payment coming in each month but the obvious downside is that you wouldn’t be able to use the property yourself during the rental period. </span></p> <p style="line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif';">Another option is to decide what weeks of the year you would want to use the property yourself and then offer the apartment or villa for short term holiday lets during the rest of the year. Then register with a website that allows you to advertise your holiday home for rent privately -without a middleman or booking agent. One such website is <a href="http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com/"><span style="color:#800080;">www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com</span></a> Paul Wilson, Marketing Manager from Property Direct From The Owner explains 'It is very easy for property owners to advertise their property on our website - they simply register with us and create a user name and password. Then they can add their property or properties along with photos, a description, rental rates and their preferred method of contact. Most of our property owners prefer to be contacted via email, although they can also specify a contact telephone number if they wish. Once the property details are added the owner can then update their property calendar, showing when the property is available for rent, and when it is already booked or unavailable due to the owner using it themselves. The whole sign up process can be completed in less than 15 minutes, and the property owner can add to or update their property information or calendar at any time.'</span></p> <p style="line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif';">Sheila Martin, who has added her holiday home in Spain to the Property Direct From The Owner website says 'I decided that I couldn’t afford to let my Spanish apartment sit empty for months at a time each year. My family and I tend to use the apartment for about 6 weeks of the year, so I decided to advertise it for rent the rest of the time. I wanted to advertise it myself, so I didn’t have to pay commission or charges on each rental as it can be between 10% and 20% of the rental cost which is a lot! I have put my apartment on the Property Direct From The Owner website and I can control when I rent it, who I rent it to, and I just pay a small charge to a property management company in Spain who clean the apartment in between rentals and hand the keys over to the holidaymaker. I am looking forward to getting lots of bookings and the apartment being really busy in 2009.'</span></p> <p style="line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif';">Paul Wilson continues 'We have designed the website and the whole process to be as user friendly as possible. When potential holidaymakers visit the site to search for property they are encouraged to contact the owner for more information on a particular property, and then the property owner can discuss the rental rates and further details direct with the holidaymaker. We would always recommend that the property owner asks for advance payment, perhaps by PayPal or cheque and also asks for a refundable deposit to cover any breakages or damage to the property during the rental period. The owner can arrange for the keys for the holiday home to be posted to the holidaymaker, collected at a pre-arranged location or for the holidaymaker to be met at the property on their arrival. The whole rental process is very easy and by arranging things directly, the property owner can save a considerable amount of money in booking commissions and perhaps offer their property at a really competitive rate due to the saving'.</span></p> <p style="line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif';">So, the answer seems clear - if you own a holiday home, whether in a holiday sunshine hotspot, city location or ski resort then dont leave it sitting empty - advertise it for rent with Property Direct From The Owner <a href="http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com/"><span style="color:#800080;">www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com</span></a> and make it work for you!</span></p> <p> </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> </main></body></html>