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Being Self-Employed May Be A Tough & Lonely Road While Being Exhilarating!
By Marcia Merrill

According to the US Small Business Administration (SBA) there are approximately 17 million businesses with only one employee (the Owner, President, Principal or Founder–whatever you call it, it’s JUST you. Having your own business can be exhilarating! After all, YOU &amp YOU ALONE decide on what you do–you’re your “Own Boss!” After all, you and you alone, are responsible for making your business thrive or take a nose dive and “crash and burn.” Sixty-six percent of new businesses fail in first three years, according to the SBA. You and you alone are responsible for your financial income! You and YOU ALONEThe SBA cites that lack of entrepreneurial qualities, lack of planning and lack of information as the basic reasons why small businesses fail and most failure occurs during first five years! By taking some assessments, you can see if you’re the type that wants coworkers and craves public contact, or one who enjoys working on your owna coach can assess this and serve as cheerleader/sounding board, who asks the tough questions to help you plan and provide information.

How can you make certain that you’re not one of those failure statistics? That your business thrives? Planning–make sure you don’t skip planning–write your business plan, don’t skip this step! There are many books and online resources that help. And be ready to do tons of marketing! Experts say that when you’re a new business, regardless of whether it’s a product or service, at least 80% of your time will be spent on Marketing!

So, start honing those creative juices or contract/barter for these services–try to use other small businesses!

What are these marketing materials you’ll need? It varies, but some things are constantHAVING A WEB PRESENCE IS ALMOST VITAL! Everything seems to be accessible on the “Net. Wedding pictures, virtual nurseries of hospitals and shopping are just some of the things available onlineYou want to be online, too. HINT–you want a professional-looking web site–this may be the first time a prospective customer/client learns of you! Take the timehire/barter a good web designeror at least refer to some basic business/marketing books before you embark on creating your unique web site -one that will bring tons of business your wayit is one of your marketing tools!

Your biggest marketing tool is you and your ability to market yourself and your product/service. You want people to have your information on hand, so you need business cards–design your own at vistaprint.com. Or barter/hire a marketing designer (another entrepreneur), and you’re ready to present yourself and your business. If you’re a good writer, write articles to help get the word out. Do workshops, presentations, join your local Chamber of Commerce and a networking group in your industry (i.e., an information technology consultant joins/attends meetings of his local technology council/association). Regardless of your interests and people contact skills, networking is a vital part of anything you do. You have to get out there. Network/communicate about your product/service. Go to trade shows, exhibit what your business can do. Yes, being your own boss can be a tough and lonely road, but it can also lead to being financially independent and give you a sense of accomplishment. Being self-employed can be tough and exhilarating.

Marcia Merrill, known as the Transition Chick, is a Life Transitions/Career Coach with 18+ years’ experience. She specializes in Boomer/midlife women in transition-sepration/divorce, career change & more! She has many local, regional & international clients- coaching by phone or in person, if local. Her 2 Masters Degrees-Counseling Psychology & one in Education, & coaching training of Job & Career Transitions Coach & in Career Management Coaching make her an expert. To learn more about the benefits of coaching-get a FREE 25 minute consultation, visit http://www.eCareerCorner.com Sign up for her FREE newsletter & several BONUSES, call (410) 467-0811, email marcia@ecareercorner.com

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What is Public Relations and Why Do You Need It?
By Ross Lincoln

According to the forecast of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States, the field of public relations will continue to reap thousands of job openings in the next few years. In fact, professionals even predicted that the growth rate of job opportunities in the field of public relations will continue to rate higher than the other fields.

With so many fields requiring the expertise of public relation officers, such as medicine, science, finance, etc., many people consider taking public relations careers to gain profits and recognition.

By definition, public relations is an ability and discipline of administering interaction or the process of exchanging ideas among individuals and organization that they belong to so as to supervise, create, and keep up its constructive representation.

One of the advantages of engaging into public relations is that people need to spice up their everyday task. With public relations, you can present ideas in a creative way and reap positive results.

Nowadays, people certainly need their creative outlets. The opportunities for creative expression are numerous. People just have to keep their minds and options open.

With public relations, an organization can boost their sales performance. Advertising alone cannot reap those greens.

Through public relations, you can create an information packet about your company. At the very least, you could overhaul the company’s image by incorporating branding tools into words and paragraphs.

So if you want to reap profits and build a totally changed image of your organization, get a public relations officer now and start building your future.

To get you started, here is what you have to do:

1. Research

The onset of public relations embarks on the setting up of research. Today, various disciplines know and accept the value of research.

In public relations, PR officers know the impact of research on their evaluation process, program development, and planning.

One must take note that before you can create a good public relations plan, you must first collect, classify, and deduce information according to their significance and relativity.

You can never start creating good public relations plan without doing research first.

2. Program Planning

Planning is vital to every activity. Nothing succeeds without the right plan. Hence, it is extremely important that you create a good program planning to facilitate the process of creating strategies and techniques through public relations.

Planning creates proper organizational skills. In this way, you are able to categorize and prioritize things according to their specific function and importance.

What most people do not know is that planning can actually make or unmake an organization. With proper planning, you can boost your company’s image and reap better sales. Wrong plans can bring your company down in a flash.

Programming planning incorporates the synchronization of various techniques, idea, and strategies to obtain positive and detailed results.

Systematic organization is the key to a successful program planning. You do not create actions and ideas based on what how they appear in the plan. With program planning, you take each step one by one and obtain feasible results concretely.

Indeed, communication is imperative in every endeavor and discipline. No wonder why public relations is viewed as something that people and organizations necessitate. Without public relations, advertising and other promotional tools will have no meaning and value.

So the next time you try to boost your company’s status, it is best that you use public relations programs and see the obtainable results yourself.

Ross Lincoln makes it quicker and easier for you to create profitable business ideas, develop your marketing strategy or start brainstorming on any topic. For a free trial of the ultimate innovation software, please visit http://www.ideacenter.com

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You Are Your Brand
By Gregory Peters

While my focus is on successful art promotion, and helping artists, this same information is applicable and will work with virtually any type of business. It will work with your business.

Is there something unique or otherwise notable about your artwork that’s worth mentioning to someone? Don’t just mention it shout it from the (literal) rooftops!
Do you know what a brand is, and why you need one? Listen up fellow artist.

What do you think of when you hear, “Have it your way?” How about, “The real thing”? If you said Burger King and Coke, you’ve been swayed by the lure of branding. Gotcha! Effective brands that reinforce public awareness and achieve recognition are very powerful tools. A good brand can go a long way to helping potential customers learn to recognize your style. In the art world Thomas Kinkaid uses the brand “Painter of Light” as his defining statement.
A brand is actually not just an image. While most of us are familiar with the Nike swoosh, or the Taco “Bell”, branding is more often seen as a catch phrase that states a purpose or reason for being. At www.Fineartpromotion.com my brand is “Your Art Promotion Resource”. This is based upon the information I provide. On my web site art gallery www.Koipondart.com , my brand is “Artwork That Begs to Be Touched”. If you can possibly add a brand to everything you do, it can help sell your services.
To create an effective brand, you must first define the type of customer you have, refine a brand as to as simple an item as possible and then promote it. There are 3 things you should do first:
1. Define your key core competency or best thing you offer
2. Create a key phrase built around the core competency
3. Draft a symbol or logo if you feel you need one to reinforce the message. Sometimes a symbol or visual identity in conjunction with a branding statement can be very effective, but it isn’t always necessary.

Take some time, sit down and really apply yourself to defining your key statement based upon your single best thing that you do. A key phrase should be short and very concise. Don’t ever use ambiguous statements like “The Low Priced Leader” for instance. Of what? For whom? Compared to who? Do you see the problem? Look around and see what statements are being used and for what and a key phrase will come to you that best sums up what you do.

If you feel the need for a logo or symbol to reinforce the key statement, create one or perhaps adapt one. Often logo symbology is just effective use of a unique or stylish type-face or font. Adapting that type-face every time you use the statement becomes the symbology you will be recognized for. The UPS label isn’t fancy at all, but through simplicity and repeated use, it is easily recognizable. Perhaps your signature is the symbology you’re looking for. That’s what Norman Rockwell used. Could you do the same?

Put your brand on everything you create as communications media. If you send e-mails, use your statement below your signature line. If you produce postcards or flyers, place the statement prominently. Don’t forget to put it on the web site and of course your business cards. Through repeated use, you will over time begin to forge an identity based upon your defining statement. Ideally such as is the case with Nike, you will become “one” with the brand. You know when this is achieved by the fact that people know instantly who you are when your symbol is displayed.
Frankly, you may never achieve this level of identity but it is the dream of every business or creative entity to have a level of recognition such that others are aware of your presence through recognition of a symbol, phrase or association of whatever you represent. Since recognition is so very important to art and artists, you know the importance of this branding element. Don’t discount its subtle impact when applied judiciously.

No matter how you choose to promote your brand through the cyber-world of various mediums, you will still need to think about and use traditional methods of visual communication of your brand such as advertising, and public relations. Ideally, a well-balanced mix of on-line use such as web sites, off-line uses such as business cards, flyers and postcards and print advertising will keep your brand message in front of your potential market often enough to solidify your position.
Large companies with deep-pockets can launch massive campaigns utilizing every form of media, and this very effectively establishes brand notoriety. Most of us don’t have access to the resources necessary to do this so every piece of information we produce must be very effective. With the attachment of a brand statement, and/or a brand symbol you can get the most bang for your buck.

So, brand yourself, and become “one” with your brand! It’s a simple, cheap and effective promotional tool you can take advantage of. You have everything to gain.

Gregory Peters is an artist, and author who provides promotional help and resource information for fine artists. His ebook “How to sell Your Art on the Web” as well as other resource information is available at: http://fineartpromotion.com

Gregory may be reached at: Gregory@fineartpromotion.com

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Promotional Items Create Employee Appreciation
By Gareth Parkin

The word &ampquotfree&ampquot can do wonders to your business. Everybody likes receiving freebies. If you have any doubt, attend a trade show. Companies offering free gifts or promotional items during trade shows enjoy more visibility and attention. There is a misconception that promotional items are mainly used during trade shows and public promotional events. Well, this is not true. Many companies have started using promotional items as incentives for their employees. Promotional items easily gels with well-thought-out incentive programs. By gifting promotional items as incentives, you can boost the morale and confidence of your employees, along with giving them a feeling of a large family.

Promotional items are hot marketing products given as incentives to the employees. If you gift promotional items such as pens, mugs, mouse mats, shirts, ties, and calendars to your employees, they may keep them on their desk. If you gift them good quality home accessories, chances are they will thank you every time they use it. These gifts cum incentives bring in a sense of loyalty among your employees and motivate them to work harder. It has been seen that employee incentives generally are more extravagant than promotional products. This is because they are meant to show appreciation for your employees efforts.

Incentives are mainly used to promote a positive message within your company. If you manage and design your promotional items properly, they can boost the morale and productivity of your employees. The right incentive can actually motivate any department in your business because they help appreciate personnel of different profiles in a personalised way.

You have a wide range of options when it comes to selecting promotional items to gift as incentives. Avoid limiting yourself to traditional recognition symbols like trophies or plaques. Consider more useful and innovative items such as pens, diaries, ties, shirts, and jackets. You can even offer group incentives that fit the differing tastes and interests of your employees.

Choosing the best advertising incentive as promotional items isn t an easy task and it involves planning. People think it s as easy as flipping through a catalog. In fact, your first decision is more crucial. Try to find answers to questions such as what type of program to set up and how will it be structured. If you are in some dire stage and don t know how, when, and what to buy as promotional items, visit www.ideasbynet.com. Ideasbynet is a UK based supplier with two decades of experience. Over these two decades, it has provided some of the best promotional items which are not just creative but also attractive.

Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK s leading online promotional items and promotional products company based in the north of England. Established in 2001, he has taken the UK gift market by storm by the application of modern business thinking and the latest search engine marketing techniques. For more details visit www.ideasbynet.com

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Power PR - 7 Secrets for Small Business Success
By Gail Martin

Successful public relations (PR) isn’t really free. Although businesses don’t pay for PR the same way they pay for advertising space, good PR requires time, expertise and effort to get results.

PR success isn’t mysterious. It comes down to a mix of old-fashioned research, savvy trend-watching and good people skills. It is the age-old talent of telling a good story. That’s really the essential difference between PR and advertising. Advertising is about selling. PR is about storytelling. People don’t like to be sold. They’re suspicious of salesmen. But human beings have been passing along their most precious stories since before recorded history. We hand down our most essential informationabout our families, our beliefs and our historythrough stories.

Here’s the “secret recipe” for telling your business story through public relations.

Start with good research. Do your homework. Before you’re ready to pitch, you need to know which media reaches your decision-makers and gate keepers and whether they prefer online or traditional formats. To find this out, think about your ultimate consumers’ age, education, economic background, ethnicity, professional and social interests, self-image and world view. Then find the media outlets that match and deliver an audience similar to your ultimate consumer. It’s also important to know whether your target consumer gets information online or through TV, radio or newspapers/magazines.

Tell a compelling story. Get to the heart and passion of why your company exists. Did the owner start the company because of a personal connection to the need that the product/service meets? Did the business overcome great adversity to get started or grow? Is there an interesting story about how the product came to be created? Does your company have a mission to change the world? Can you tell a memorable story about how you saved your clients? Once you identify the Real Story of your business, you have a unique marketing tool no one else can copy.

Match the story to the reporter. Reporters cover certain subjects. They absolutely hate to be bombarded with pitches that have nothing to do with the focus of their magazine/newspaper/show or that aren’t what they cover. So don’t send business news to the lifestyle editor. Don’t send lifestyle news to the banking editor. Don’t send anything to the Editor-in-Chief if you can possibly help it. Show them you’ve done your homework. And while you’re at itread, watch or listen to the reporter’s column or show before you pitch and make a reference in your pitch to what you’ve seen/heard.

Follow up persistently. Reporters are busy. Silence is not the same as “no.” Silence may mean that the pitch never reached them, or that it the first copy was discarded. It may mean that they’re too busy to get back to you even if they’re interested. It may mean that they’ve been reassigned and someone else is now covering that topic. Maybe the email address didn’t work. I’ve been told by hosts and reporters that it can take six follow-ups to get a story. Be polite but be persistent. And if the answer is “no” ask them why. Was it wrong for them or their paper/show? Off season? Similar to something they’ve recently done? You can learn a lot by asking why and listening. (Hintnever call to follow up late in the afternoon. Reporters are usually on deadline.)

Match your pitch to what’s in the news. Has there been a flood? If you sell disaster recovery services for small businesses, pitch stories about clients who have bounced backwith your helpafter a flood. Is it Spring? Now is a good time to pitch a story about professional organizing services or mobile shredding to help with office “Spring cleaning.” For best results, be at least a month or more in advance of predictable seasons and holidays. For breaking news tie-ins, try to be within 24 hours or it may be old news. The 24/7 news cycle means there is a lot of time and space to fillreporters are always looking for hot related items.

Answer, show up, deliver. Woody Allen said, “Half of life is showing up.” Showing up is 100 percent of dealing with the media. Never cancel an interview unless you’re in the hospital. If you’re booked to be on radio or TV, get there early. Be ready to deliver a personal, entertaining, reader-valuable and benefit-rich story. Remember that the media isn’t there to give you free publicity. The media existsand gets to remain in businessonly when they entertain and inform their listeners. If you don’t present information that entertains or that can be used immediately by listeners to solve a problem that matters to them, readers or listeners will walk awayand might not come back. Entertain and inform and you’ll be asked to return.

Build relationships. It’s not over when the interview ends. Reporters are always looking for good information and good sources. You can become a Subject Matter Expert by letting reporters know you are available any time they need an expert opinion on your area of specialty. When you come upon a good story idea, an interesting fact or a connection you can make for the reporter with another person, offer to help. You’ll become a reliable source, and see yourself quoted again and again.

Combine the above elements and let it simmer. You’ll see your PR success begin to rise in no time.

Gail Z. Martin owns DreamSpinner Communications and helps companies in the U.S. and Canada tell the Real Story of their business through exceptional writing and marketing. Gail has an MBA in marketing and over 20 years of corporate and non-profit experience at senior executive levels. She is also the author of The Summoner, a fantasy adventure novel.

Sign up for a FREE email mini course, FREE marketing conference call and a FREE teleseminar on Telling Your Real Story, at http://www.DreamSpinnerCommunications.com Find out more about Gail’s books at http://www.ChroniclesOfTheNecromancer.com Contact Gail at gail at dreamspinnercommunications.com to start telling the Real Story of your business.

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Guide to Getting Small Business Grants
By Nickolay Bokhonok

Do You Know that Small Business Grants Can be Waiting for You Almost Round the Corner ?

We are living in the times when governments understand the value of small businesses for the global economy. Small businesses are the pushers and testing grounds for new trends, they provide lots of jobs for the masses, they make any society more stable and happy. So governments have created special funds, programs, associations to provide government grants for small business.

You can be surprised to find out that there are so many types of grants that you can be missing and that can help you out almost instantly - minority small business grants, small business grants for woman, federal grants for small business, business start up grants and even free small business grants. All these types of grants act as a real proof that they really help many small businesses to succeed.

There are two typical issues about getting small business grants.

(1) WHERE to Get Small Business Grants.

Start with doing local search for small business grants , small business bank loans , venture funds and angel investors . This will give you a pretty big list of places to apply for help.

If you are in the USA - there are some majors that provide this type of financial assistance - for example, Small Business Administration (SBA) that has many departments that fit all possible types of businesses or help. It can also be wise to check the catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance - there you can find many good places to apply for the grants.

For businesses outside US there is also a way to succeed. Government, public or private organizations in your country must be giving some help to new small businesses within the framework of these institutions:

- economic development programs, funds, departments, opportunities, initiatives- banks (usually they have special small business loans and programs)- venture funds, companies, firms- credit partnerships- angel investors (this type of business got very popular recently).

The list is big, but it means that you do not need to trust one business grant opportunity. The more opportunities, the better for you!

(2) HOW to Get Small Business Grants.

There is no magic formula to safe getting of grants.

But you can increase your chances using these simple tips.

Build a good business plan. Surely you are starting your business with some plan, but here you need to be very convincing, well-prepared to any questions. People who read this plan must understand and feel that the only element necessary for your success is the money, the grant.

Keep in good contact with your grant agent (manager, officer, anyone who is in charge of all details). Don t be a pusher, but make sure that you are in control of the situation. A lot will depend upon this person, maybe not the final decision, but a lot. Make sure he/she can reach you at any moment. And would be great if you have his/her contact details, the more, the better.

Try to find someone who already got a grant from the institution or organization you apply to. If it is possible, find out all details before applying there: what problems this person had, what questions asked, what impressed the grant givers, etc.

And the last advice, if in one place it did not work, don t give up. You can either appeal or try another place.

Only those who knock at the door can see it open.

Small business grants tips from the best industry experts.
Small business grants RSS feed - stay automatically updated with latest trends and news about all types of small business grants.

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Your Child s First Year at College: Prime Target for Identity Theft?
By Etienne Gibbs

If your son or daughter is a recently high school graduate and college freshman, he or she is the ideal target cybercriminals are looking. “Why?” you might ask. For cybercriminals the answer is easy and highly profitable. Recent high school graduates and college freshmen provide extremely lucrative opportunities for the cybercriminals to obtain their personal information. Even before they start their first careers, these graduates and college students may be crippled by identity theft.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the US government agency charged with monitoring identity thefts and related frauds, identity theft complaints reported to them from 2003 through 2005, nearly 30 percent of victims each year were ages 18 to 29.

And according to Ms Michelle Boykins, spokesperson for the National Crime Prevention Council in Washington, college students are the prime target for these cybercriminals because the students are often just starting to use credit and/or pay bills for the first time.

Colleges of all sizes are working to protect their students’ identities. Broward Community College, for example, has recently introduced unique personal identification numbers for students, replacing their Social Security numbers. And campuses are including information about identity theft on their Web sites, at orientation, and in special presentations.
The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor lures students to an online quiz of security questions with a chance to win prizes, including iPods. Mr. Paul Howell, Chief Information Technology Security Officer, reported that they are always trying to think of creative and productive ways to engage students.

Further, Mr. Howell advises students to limit the personal information they post online, particularly on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook. Additionally, students should know they can restrict their details or remove themselves from the university s online directory that is available to the worldwide public 24/7.

Although prevention is the best form of protection, there are several steps students can take to protect themselves from cybercriminals. If they suspect that their identities have been stolen, then they are urged to call one of the three major credit-reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on their information. Doing so will enable them to be contacted should an identity thief tries to use their details. Students need only notify one of the credit companies, Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, because the initial company will inform the other two.

Because cyberpredators and other cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy and those of your children. If you use a computer and are connected to the internet, your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk. These cybercriminals leave you with three choices:

(1) Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.

(2) Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.

(3) Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.

Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don t, we all lose!

Etienne A. Gibbs, Internet Safety Advocate, recommends to individuals and small business owners the protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) package he uses. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com.

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Gold Mining - For Salespeople
By Robert Seviour

I ve had a sales career lasting over 30 years, but one summer I worked in a goldmine in northern Canada.

This is what happens in a gold mine, you dig up a lot - a real lot - of gravel and you transport it to a big sieving machine, called a Trommel, which washes and grades the material. Most of what comes out is just big rocks, which are hauled away and discarded. But there s always a quantity of gold-bearing material which is directed down a chute into a device called a sluice box, where the gold particles collect.

How do you know where to dig? You don t really, you just keep trying and panning the samples to see what concentration of gold you are getting.

At night, the trucks stop, the drivers go home. The Trommel is shut down and the boss-man picks through the sluice box taking out nuggets. Nothing more happens until the operations start up again the next day.

It goes on and on like this, for the season. Some days are good, some aren t and a lot of the work isn t fun. But one thing is sure, when the snows start and it s impossible to keep going, there s enough gold for the boss-man to head off to the sun for the whole winter.

Selling has similarities - you never know who is a good prospect in advance and you can t tell whether tomorrow you will be lucky. But you can be sure that if you do the things that matter to a good standard, every day, you will consistently make above-average money.

I know this now, but years ago I would let myself get into an uncomfortable roller-coaster ride of having a good run and making money, then slacking off which would lead to poor sales - and correspondingly small or no pay checks. When this happened, desperation would follow as I tried frantically to get my performance back up again. Of course, when you are like that, prospects can sense it and it puts them off.

You don t need to make the mistakes I did. Focus on doing the basics well - prospect adequately, develop a good presentation, keep your activity level high and you ll be mining gold too.

Download my free eCourse - Seven Deadly Closes

Robert Seviour has presented his sales masterclass over 600 times in 9 countries. For further information, please visit http://www.seviourbooks.com

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Cashless Marketing Options
By Ryan Carlson

Marketing to the Masses In a world full of choices, it is up to the owners of car washes to let the people in their area know why they should choose their location over the others in the area. Most metropolitan areas have multiple car washes in a single town. Most gas stations and C-stores now have their own car wash that can and will cut into the traffic of your wash. But you re running ads in the paper and have a nice big well lit sign, so where are all the new customers?

The buying trends in our consumer driven economy make it very clear that it is not always as important where customers buy their car wash, it s how they buy their car wash. Consumers will make a buying decision based on factors of convenience which could be as simple as accepting their particular credit card or being a member of a prepaid car washing club.

Find a Cashless System That Fits Your Business The car wash industry is so full of cashless payment solutions that wash owners can easily get overwhelmed by all of the choices. Luckily the vast majority of the systems can be boiled down into those that primarily focus on credit card acceptance and those that offer loyalty programs and tools to market a cashless program beyond straight credit card acceptance. There is also a third category and that is the basic built-in factory option available through most new equipment. Built-in card programs from the factory are going to be very basic. Just like the factory radio in your car, it will handle the very basics of functionality and may even get you by for awhile. Much like your factory car radio, they can be taken out and replaced with any number of non-proprietary solutions to provide additional features not available from the factory options.

Only Interested in Accepting Credit Cards? If your only goal in purchasing a cashless payment system is to accept credit cards then my only suggestion is to hire yourself a sign consultant, such as Perry Powell, and build the largest, most visible sign allowed by your city featuring the words “We Accept…” followed by the logos of every major credit card you can offer. If a customer does not know you take credit cards they may just keep on driving by. Accepting credit cards is just as important as accepting cash, it s just smart business sense. The major credit card companies spend billions of dollars to make sure every college student, adult, and child with a bank account has their own credit card.

Tip: Although credit card acceptance may get a new customer in the door there is nothing loyalty building about a Visa. Remember? “Visa, it s anywhere you want to be”. A customer with a Visa is only as loyal as other businesses in town are to Visa. Credit card acceptance is a wonderful angle for getting new customers on the lot, the trick is giving them a reason to come back.

Looking For a Marketable Cashless Program? Is It For You? The first thing I cannot stress enough is that the more flexibility your cashless system has the more likely it is to get used. Cashless marketing programs are much like an exercise video. You can buy the video. You can watch the video. But unless you actually do the exercises on the video you will not benefit from having purchased it. And this is why the number one reason for the success or failure of a a cashless loyalty system boils down to owner and employee participation. To successfully implement a profitable cashless program it requires every level of the business to embrace and evangelize it s benefits to their customers.

How Do I Market A Cashless Loyalty Program? There is no magic handbook or miraculous software that can provide all of the answers and this article is by no means, going to provide all of the answers. Some cashless products come with marketing tools in the form of thick books that have not been updated in years, leaving you to decipher their use. Other products come with practical advice, marketing literature, and marketing consultations with experts. The best tools in the industry are from wash professionals and wash operators themselves. It used to be that car wash operators would only have the opportunity to learn more about being successful business owners in-person at the car wash conventions. The Internet has been an invaluable tool in learning “what works” and “what doesn t work”. Websites such as talkcarwash and autocareforum give a voice to car wash operators from around the globe to ask questions and give answers to other car wash operators that might be in the same situation as themselves.

Marketing Option 1: Selling Cards Face to Face The most basic approach in sales is meeting your customers face to face and explaining to them the merits of your loyalty program. Perhaps you give bonus wash dollars when customers pre-pay or recharge their prepaid account. As employees meet and greet customers on the lot it never hurts to carry a few extra prepaid cards to hand out to customers as they are finished washing their vehicles. It gives them incentive to come back a second time and if properly presented they will add additional value back onto their prepaid card. Obviously the drawback of selling cards by hand is that you are limited to how many cards you can physically hand out or sell in person.

Marketing Option 2: Target Local Business with Commercial Accounts The most successful wash owners all attest to the amazing profitability of targeting local businesses with a fleet card program. Commercial fleet business is a profitable and predictable ongoing volume of business you can count on every month. Since several systems on the market can generate itemized invoices at month s end, many car wash owners can bring in huge accounts including municipal vehicles, city vehicles, and local law enforcement. Car wash operators that were previously selling tokens or token notes found that their commercial business customers washed far more often once they were no longer reliant upon getting more tokens when they ran out and no longer had to distribute tokens and token notes among the various fleet drivers once new coin tokens or token notes were purchased.

Tip: In a recent survey of commercial business customers, the number one concern of managers had nothing to do with the quality of the wash their vehicles were receiving. Their top concern was whether they were being ripped off by their own employees every time they handed out bags of untraceable tokens or stacks of token notes. A proper cashless fleet management program will give the peace of mind that business owners are looking for.

Marketing Option 3: Sell Prepaid Cards in Vending Machines or Specialized Card Dispensers Offering prepaid loyalty cards in standard vending machines allow for 24/7 sales. Several manufacturers offer specialized card dispensing machines that give prepaid customers the ability to purchase a card with either cash or credit card. These machines automatically apply the loyalty bonus for prepayment and will dispense a prepaid card loaded with the appropriate value. The greatest benefit of these machines is that it allows customers to check the value of an existing prepaid card and add additional value if the balance is running low. These machines consequently give consumers the ability to use their large bills that cannot be broken in a bill changer.

Tip: Adding a specialized vending and recharging machine gives the perfect opportunity to completely phase out coin tokens with a far more profitable cashless solution. No more sorting tokens from quarters, electrical blanks from tokens, and your wash tokens from the local laundromat or casinos coin tokens.

Marketing Option 4: Sell Wash Accounts On the Internet In the same consumer economy that lets you buy your groceries on the Internet it should be no surprise that consumers will buy their car washes on the Internet as well. Having a web presence for your car wash gives customers an opportunity to learn more about your wash services. Like many car wash owners that offer cashless payment options, they use their website as another way to generate revenue from online wash sales.

Example: An example of effective cashless marketing on the Internet can be seen by visiting the website of the independently owned car wash Swipe-N-Shine (swipenshine). Swipe-N-Shine is located in Murray Utah and is owned and operated by Brett Pace. Brett uses his website to not only sell prepaid cards but he also gives his loyalty card customers the option of registering their card on his website to protect the cards value should it get lost or stolen. Customers have the option to sign up for a free birthday wash and when customers register their prepaid card online they can also qualify for his Swipe-N-Shine referral program. Customers that refer their friends and family to the loyalty program can net themselves and their friend $5 in free wash value. Lastly, Brett gives all of his fleet customers the ability to manage their own commercial account from his website, much like online banking. Commercial fleet customers pay their invoices online with their company credit card, much in the same way prepaid customers add additional value to their prepaid accounts online.

Tip: Put your website address on everything. Signs, shirts, prepaid cards, even company vehicles! Again, if customers don t know it s available, they won t use it. In the case of a website, they won t visit it.

Marketing Option 5: Sell Prepaid Washes via Charity Fund raiser School sports teams, youth groups, and organizations can only sell so many frozen pizzas, holiday wreaths, and cookies to raise money. Deal directly with the organization and sell them discount prepaid cards to cover your costs and let them make a few bucks for bringing scores of new customers to your location. Either way, the goal of a charity car wash or Fund raiser is not to make a pile of cash on the initial investment. Instead, wash owners should keep two primary goals in sight at all times. 1) Become more visible in the community. 2) Focus on the new customers that the Fund raiser sales will bring in. And when in doubt realize you can write off the entire thing on your taxes. It is a proven statistical fact - the more loyalty cards you have in circulation, the more repeat business you will have on a regular basis. Wash owners that get loyalty cards into the hands of everybody they do business with has no idea what a slow month at the wash is like.

Marketing Option (Necessity) 6: Properly Advertise Your Program! Just like with credit cards, if customers do not know you offer a loyalty card program they will not participate. Every bay should have a sign, the menu board should have a sign, and the vending area should have multiple signs. The most effective place to put a sign is anywhere customers will look while they are waiting for a customer to finish washing in front of them.

What can I do that I m not doing now?

• Fund raisers (Charity Donation)
• Running a web-based marketing campaign (using a website as an ‘anchor for marketing efforts)
• A ‘Discount Wash program for loyalty card/key/code users
• Successfully marketing to fleets with an automated fleet management program.
• Developing business relationships with local mechanics shops, automotive dealerships, super markets, and C-Stores to offer promotional ‘first wash free deals, or discount wash packages / fleet accounts.

Cashless System Buyers Guide Don t get burned by being unprepared when looking at card/key/code systems! Know your facts and have your questions ready! The last thing you want to happen is spend a lot of money on a solution that will not meet your needs beyond accepting just credit cards.

• How many cards/codes/keys can I have in the system at once?
• How do I collect the data? Do I need to physically go to the wash?
• How often do I need to go and collect the data before the memory fills up and data loss occurs?
• How does the information get into my accounting software? How do I do billing?
• How does the system protect against the loss of transaction data? Is there a data backup system?
• Does the system allow customers to use Credit Cards? If so, is it batch processing or at time of purchase processing?
• Are the cards/keys/codes rechargeable? How do they get recharged?
• How do customers purchase the cards/keys/codes? Is there a way to automate dispensing?
• Does the system require an attendant?
• How much do the cards/keys/codes cost a each?
• How does the system handle upgrades and feature adds? Do I need to pay for these upgrades?
• Does the hardware work with my auto cashier or self-serve bay timers?
• How durable are the cards/keys/codes?
• Is customization available? If so, what can I customize?
• Can lost or stolen cards/keys/codes be removed from the system and replaced with a new card/key/code?
• How flexible is the system in terms of offering discounts or running promotions?
• Does the system offer both pre-paid and credit accounts for fleets?
• How much development has been made to enhance the system since it launched? Are there future plans to continue innovation on the product?
• Does the system offer online promotional tools? Can they be integrated into my existing website?

Ryan Carlson is an industry expert on consumer buying trends and car wash promotional marketing technologies. Specializing in successful car wash marketing and cashless payment technologies, you can catch one of his seminars at a local trade show or read his regular editorials in the various industry trade publications. To ask Ryan for marketing advice, ask questions, or inquire about an interview, visit his website at http://www.washideas.com

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Mentoring for the Future
By Jane Merrow

Business Employees Mentor Students

Big business is doing something positive about the worrying lack of skills amongst new entries to the job market.

Sadly in many instances the education system and parents have failed young people and many of those entering the work force simply do not have the basic skills to get a job. The education system includes many universities and have given graduates the impression that just because they have been to university, they are automatically qualified to get a well-paid job. Often writing, spelling, communication and basic interactive skills have not been properly developed.

Instead of complaining about the situation some big businesses such as British Gas, npower, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland are doing something about it. They have developed e-monitoring, which links individual employees who have volunteered, as mentors, to schoolchildren of all ages. Each mentor receives a weekly email from their allocated pupil and once a week the mentor responds, flitting it in with their own schedule.

The programme is run by Community Service Volunteers, the UK s largest volunteering charity organisation. It is remarkably simple and appears to be a win win situation offering the children the practical help, they will need for the future and giving the mentors a real extra interest and morale boost.

The impact on the children is clearly traceable and the relationship lasts for a year.

The initial aim is to improve the IT and communication skills of the children and the mentoring employees feel good about the Company, of which they are a part, which is clearly making a contribution to society, not to mention the benefit of better skilled and educated
future employees

Jane Merrow owner of http://www.languagejobs4u.com

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