Other Added - Business

Screening Your Employees
Many companies screen the employees before recruiting them. This helps them weed out undesirable candidates at the outset. It also protects them from litigation, regulators and the risk of high turnover. Besides verifying the details on your resume, employers most commonly screen for criminal behavior, drug abuse, regulatory violations, and appearances on a terrorist watch list. They also keep a check on employees’ tax liens, bankruptcy filings, ongoing divorce or custody proceedings, driving violations or bounced checks. Employers are also concerned that someone with monetary problems, health issues or family concerns may not be fully focused on the job. During the screening process, companies gauge a candidate’s temper, social skills, and reaction to stress, attitudes and how they handle tough situations.Screening Parameters: Employers generally screen employees on the following parameters: • Social Security Number Trace. Especially if a candidate has a change of name. • Criminal record check.

n 7 seconds to register in someone's brain!). Powerful visuals & headlines are key!

Cons: You pay extra for mass targeting. Can be very expensive. Poor creative can render your efforts invisible. Production can eat up alot of your budget. Slow turnaround. Key positions are booked sometimes for years in advance.

The biggest question you are probably asking is: What do I do now?

That all depends on what "challenge" your business is presenting.

You need to formulate a plan of action. This is typically called an advertising plan.

You must:

1. come up with an affordable advertising budget

This money should be viewed as an investment

2. create a timeline (how long you need to advertise)

Decide if this is a longer image-building campaign or a short promotional campaign

3. define the nature of your campaign and what you hope to accomplish

Do you want to build up your name or sell a particular product or service?

4. come up with a strong creative campaign

You can play safe and follow everyone else who is successful, or lead with new and aggressive creative

5. select the media (preferrably more than one) you can afford

I caution you to avoid a one media campaign. They are very limiting. Whenever possible, use a combination - ie: print/radio, flyer/radio, tv/print, tv/billboard

Once you have done all of the above you are closer to taking your first step. Unfortunately,

5 Steps to Build Stronger Communication and Understanding
Did you know that you should always create a process map for every procedure or system of procedures that you develop? And did you know that, like a table of contents, this will create stronger communication and better understanding in your organization?How do you do this?Identify Core ProcessesLast time, we followed the money trail and identified your business’ core processes. We discussed where to best start a change in one of those core processes. And we introduced the technique of producing a process map. So this week, let’s take a further look at how to create a process map – and see how it creates knowledge to benefit you and your organization.Use Process Map as Communication ToolA process map is a flow diagram of the primary processes within an organization. It very specifically shows you both who and what is involved in a process, as well as the requirements for that process to be effective. The primary goal is to use the map as a communication tool. It is

When it comes to small business marketing and advertising, I am amazed at how many local advertisers squander their money. I wish I had the money they wasted. I'd be a rich man.

Let's talk about your typical retailer with 1 - 5 locations.

One of the biggest problems I've seen is that most retailers have no idea of which media to use when running a campaign. In fact, some don't even know WHY they are running a campaign.

They know they should advertise, but they don't really know what they are trying to accomplish.

Let's clarify the TOP 10 obvious reasons you should advertise.

1. You are opening a new business

2. You are closing a business

3. You have a problem selling sufficient quantities of your product or service

4. Your competitor has started a price war

5. You have taken on a new product line or phasing out a product

6. Your business is expanding with new locations

7. You need to renovate but don't want to lose business

8. Sales are dropping and you need to create a new buzz

9. You are moving your location

10.You want to go public

All these reasons to advertise are born of typical "problems" and Advertising solves problems!

I prefer to see problems as challenges and recommend that mindset for everyone. It makes it more of a positive game and stimulates the problem-solving areas of the brain instead of bringing on the worry & depression when you're scrambling to generate sales or save a business.

Now. Which media to use?

Let me give you the bigger picture of the Top 5 advertising vehicles.

RADIO

Need to get a message out fast? Nothing works better than radio!

Radio Pros: This is the sizzle. Hollywood. The Buzz. Entertainment. Excitement. Light my fire. Theatre of the mind. Fast turnaround. With the right production your local burger joint can come across like MacDonald's. Fairly inexpensive. A "word of mouth" medium that taps into the trusting subconscious that "A friend told me about such & such...".

Radio Cons: Sausage factory radio spot production and mediocre creative copywriting due to time constraints and poor client communication. Limited inventory of spots means there's nothing to buy when station is in a sold-out position.

PRINT

Print is all about details. Not enough time to say it in 30 seconds on radio? Take out a print Ad!

Print Pros: Powerful headlines work. Graphic images can be a powerful selling tool! Lots of room to showcase plenty of inventory. Good target market penetration. Good vehicle for couponing. Color Ads grab the eye. Reader can cut & save Ad or coupon.

Print Cons: Slow turnaround time due to production. Your Ad can end up on the same page as your competition (not recommended if the competition is underselling, but that's a whole other story!) Print production by the newspaper graphic department offers up less than interesting creative Ad design or punchy layout (because of time constraints). Can be quite expensive in certain markets. Easy to get lost on a page of Ads. Powerful headlines are key but hard to come by unless you hire an outside creative person oe design firm.

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

TV Pros: Let's face it. Nothing beats the one-two punch of audio-video. Powerful visuals. Emotionally stirring music or audio sound bites. A dash of sex...intrique...fear...laughter... Yes - your emotions are being assaulted & manipulated by the very best advertisers in the world. And you know what? TV works!

So what if it cost Apple $10,000,000 to sell you 1 ipod? They'll make it back a hundred times!

TV Cons: Can be very expensive in local markets. Production is key but again, very expensive. Out of reach for many local businesses. That being said, there are TV. package opportunities available during off-season and sometimes end-of-season that are affordable. (I highly recommend you take advantage and get your feet wet with these type of offers).

FLYERS / INSERTS / DIRECT MAIL:

I have grouped these together because they fall into the category of distribution of printed material. The most telling difference is the way they are distributed. Let's define each. A flyer is an independant piece of printed material typically distributed by hand and bundled with many other flyers. An Insert is a flyer that is inserted into the local paper for distribution. Direct Mail is a flyer, card or Ad in a sealed envelope that can be specifically targeted to certain city zones, apartments, streets, businesses, high or low income areas etc. As you can imagine, direct mail is the more expensive method but best targeted.

Pros: Flyers are stand alone Ads that thrifty retail shoppers look forward to. The key is, to have an outstanding promotion or offer. Strong creative, pleasing layout and quality paper stock all make a difference as to how you are perceived by the shopper. Shoddy Ads = Shoddy business. (There are exceptions, but that will be discussed in another article.) Flyers allow you to coupon your product or service.

Cons: Flyers rarely deliver a high rate of return. Even when expertly conceived, designed and printed, they can easily get cast into the garbage bin. The key is to pre-promote your flyer in another medium or offer samples. (I'll cover the powerful effects of combining complimentary media in my next article).

BILLBOARDS

There are many types of billboard services. From huge highway, street-level and bus shelter signage to bus, train, and taxi signage.

Pros: There is an "air" of big time advertising associated with billboards. Great for image building as long as you follow the 7 second rule. (Never say anything on a billboard that takes longer than 7 seconds to register in someone's brain!). Powerful visuals & headlines are key!

The biggest question you are probably asking is: What do I do now?

That all depends on what "challenge" your business is presenting.

You need to formulate a plan of action. This is typically called an advertising plan.

You must:

1. come up with an affordable advertising budget

This money should be viewed as an investment

2. create a timeline (how long you need to advertise)

Decide if this is a longer image-building campaign or a short promotional campaign

3. define the nature of your campaign and what you hope to accomplish

Do you want to build up your name or sell a particular product or service?

4. come up with a strong creative campaign

You can play safe and follow everyone else who is successful, or lead with new and aggressive creative

5. select the media (preferrably more than one) you can afford

I caution you to avoid a one media campaign. They are very limiting. Whenever possible, use a combination - ie: print/radio, flyer/radio, tv/print, tv/billboard

Once you have done all of the above you are closer to taking your first step. Unfortunately,

Does Your Income Reflect Your Effort?
The one thing almost all the women I meet have in common is that they are too smart for their own good! This is probably true for you, too!If you have great ideas all the time and are very passionate about what you do, and you can never seem to get everything done when you want it done, congratulations - this is you.I understand that you don't want to give anything up, and coming up with the brilliant ideas makes you happy – so don't stop doing it. Instead, you need a tool to keep you focused so you can complete the highest priority items so you can have the cash flow you deserve.Determining your priorities and sticking with them is a systematic approach. You need to know how you are getting the clients you have had. Try this exercise: look at all the clients you have gotten in the last 18 months. Add 2 pieces of information for each – where did they come from and how much revenue did you make from them?After you have these pieces of information, do an analysis of where the majority of y

save a business.

Now. Which media to use?

Let me give you the bigger picture of the Top 5 advertising vehicles.

RADIO

Need to get a message out fast? Nothing works better than radio!

PRINT

Print is all about details. Not enough time to say it in 30 seconds on radio? Take out a print Ad!

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

So what if it cost Apple $10,000,000 to sell you 1 ipod? They'll make it back a hundred times!

FLYERS / INSERTS / DIRECT MAIL:

BILLBOARDS

There are many types of billboard services. From huge highway, street-level and bus shelter signage to bus, train, and taxi signage.

The biggest question you are probably asking is: What do I do now?

That all depends on what "challenge" your business is presenting.

You need to formulate a plan of action. This is typically called an advertising plan.

You must:

1. come up with an affordable advertising budget

This money should be viewed as an investment

2. create a timeline (how long you need to advertise)

Decide if this is a longer image-building campaign or a short promotional campaign

3. define the nature of your campaign and what you hope to accomplish

Do you want to build up your name or sell a particular product or service?

4. come up with a strong creative campaign

You can play safe and follow everyone else who is successful, or lead with new and aggressive creative

5. select the media (preferrably more than one) you can afford

I caution you to avoid a one media campaign. They are very limiting. Whenever possible, use a combination - ie: print/radio, flyer/radio, tv/print, tv/billboard

Once you have done all of the above you are closer to taking your first step. Unfortunately,

A Look at Deck Fasteners
Deck fasteners are screws especially manufactured to fasten the many soft, thin planks of a wood en deck in place. Wooden decks must be able to withstand many different kinds of weather and corrosion, and so deck fasteners must be able to stand up to these elements just as well. Therefore, deck fasteners are usually coated with a weather-resistant coating that protects them from rust and corrosion. The coating is made of zinc plating. A steel screw plated with zinc is called a galvanized steel screw. A screw can also be coated in a ceramic material. Deck screws can also be made of stainless steel or high-copper-content screws, as these screws won’t stain the deck.Deck fasteners are designed to drill their own hole, drive downward gradually and easily, lay flat against the surface of the deck, and be difficult to extract once inserted. For this reason, deck screws are said to be sharp-pointed, self-drilling, self-countersinking, and shallow-threaded. Sharp points eliminate the need for extra drills. The threads o

esting creative Ad design or punchy layout (because of time constraints). Can be quite expensive in certain markets. Easy to get lost on a page of Ads. Powerful headlines are key but hard to come by unless you hire an outside creative person oe design firm.

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

So what if it cost Apple $10,000,000 to sell you 1 ipod? They'll make it back a hundred times!

FLYERS / INSERTS / DIRECT MAIL:

BILLBOARDS

There are many types of billboard services. From huge highway, street-level and bus shelter signage to bus, train, and taxi signage.

The biggest question you are probably asking is: What do I do now?

That all depends on what "challenge" your business is presenting.

You need to formulate a plan of action. This is typically called an advertising plan.

You must:

1. come up with an affordable advertising budget

This money should be viewed as an investment

2. create a timeline (how long you need to advertise)

Decide if this is a longer image-building campaign or a short promotional campaign

3. define the nature of your campaign and what you hope to accomplish

Do you want to build up your name or sell a particular product or service?

4. come up with a strong creative campaign

You can play safe and follow everyone else who is successful, or lead with new and aggressive creative

5. select the media (preferrably more than one) you can afford

I caution you to avoid a one media campaign. They are very limiting. Whenever possible, use a combination - ie: print/radio, flyer/radio, tv/print, tv/billboard

Once you have done all of the above you are closer to taking your first step. Unfortunately,

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Transcriptions
Transcription may be linguistic, genetic or may even relate to music. Linguistic transcription means the transfer of a spoken conversation into written language. Genetic transcription is the process of replicating DNA to RNA by the enzyme called RNA polymerize (RNAP). Transcription of music means rewriting a piece of music or recopying it.Transcription comprises of three types, namely corporate transcriptions, legal transcriptions, and medical transcriptions. Corporate or business transcription providing services offer accurate business transcripts that are delivered on time. They also deliver it in the format required and at fairly competitive prices. Business transcription is a very tedious job, and overburdens the staff. A service providing company simplifies the work by organizing and re-arranging the data. This not only saves time, but also saves the company's money.Legal transcriptions are those that record depositions, court hearings, and tapes in any language preferred by the client. Many legal tra

ibuted by hand and bundled with many other flyers. An Insert is a flyer that is inserted into the local paper for distribution. Direct Mail is a flyer, card or Ad in a sealed envelope that can be specifically targeted to certain city zones, apartments, streets, businesses, high or low income areas etc. As you can imagine, direct mail is the more expensive method but best targeted.

BILLBOARDS

There are many types of billboard services. From huge highway, street-level and bus shelter signage to bus, train, and taxi signage.

The biggest question you are probably asking is: What do I do now?

That all depends on what "challenge" your business is presenting.

You need to formulate a plan of action. This is typically called an advertising plan.

You must:

1. come up with an affordable advertising budget

This money should be viewed as an investment

2. create a timeline (how long you need to advertise)

Decide if this is a longer image-building campaign or a short promotional campaign

3. define the nature of your campaign and what you hope to accomplish

Do you want to build up your name or sell a particular product or service?

4. come up with a strong creative campaign

You can play safe and follow everyone else who is successful, or lead with new and aggressive creative

5. select the media (preferrably more than one) you can afford

I caution you to avoid a one media campaign. They are very limiting. Whenever possible, use a combination - ie: print/radio, flyer/radio, tv/print, tv/billboard

Once you have done all of the above you are closer to taking your first step. Unfortunately,

Tuesday: Your Daily Yellow Page Ad Review
You’ve come to the second day of the week in our examination of your yellow Page advertising. With so many elements that are tucked into your Yellow page ad, it’s not often easy to know where to start, when looking what to change or evaluate. The very first is most likely the headline. The second, although sometimes equally important, is the sub-head or sub-title. It functions as a supporter for the main headline usually offers clarification or further describes the pertinent focus of the ad itself. If your ad currently does not contain such an item, consider the following information and how it might help.Start with the headline. Assuming it’s just not your name or something banal like “Low-Cost Experts,” you can think about how the sub-head will operate. Let’s look at how they work in tandem. Suppose you’re an appliance repair person. You decide to use the following headline to attract attention: “We Can’t Fix Your Major Appliance.” Interesting, right? So what does the sub-title say? How about, “Unless we find

n 7 seconds to register in someone's brain!). Powerful visuals & headlines are key!

The biggest question you are probably asking is: What do I do now?

That all depends on what "challenge" your business is presenting.

You need to formulate a plan of action. This is typically called an advertising plan.

You must:

1. come up with an affordable advertising budget

This money should be viewed as an investment

2. create a timeline (how long you need to advertise)

Decide if this is a longer image-building campaign or a short promotional campaign

3. define the nature of your campaign and what you hope to accomplish

Do you want to build up your name or sell a particular product or service?

4. come up with a strong creative campaign

You can play safe and follow everyone else who is successful, or lead with new and aggressive creative

5. select the media (preferrably more than one) you can afford

I caution you to avoid a one media campaign. They are very limiting. Whenever possible, use a combination - ie: print/radio, flyer/radio, tv/print, tv/billboard

Once you have done all of the above you are closer to taking your first step. Unfortunately, advertising goes much deeper than this. ie: what kind of Ad offer do I make? What kind of creative do I use? Is my logo strong enough? Is the newspaper Ad big enough? How many spots should I buy on the radio? Color? Black & White? What print stock should I use?

It can be daunting.

The good news is, most media have reliable reps to help you sort it all out. Your job then, may be to separate fact from fiction. The best way to do this is to pick the most knowledgeable rep who understands more than their own product and give them the opportunity to advise you.

You can also hire an independant consultant or a small Advertising Agency to put it all together for you.

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ISO 9000 is a vastly popular set of standards accepted by businesses and consumers worldwide. ISO 9000 is a method by which businesses can monitor the quality of their customer service as well as the quality of their products or services.

Have you ever had a bad hair day? What about a bad body day? Here’s some help for those days when you wake up feeling fat.

The demand for quality print and fast turn around time is always a requirement set by customers. No matter what the cost it may be all they want is to achieve the satisfaction and have the quality they want for their materials.

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