Записи с меткой «holiday»

How Does Your Direct Mail Pull?

Assuming you have a great graphic artist who designs your marketing materials, mailers and collateral (which is a big assumption, I know)…

Where do you go to get them printed and/or mailed? How do you know which messages will be better to use? How often should you send mail out to your list?

Many small business owners I know typically do mailings hap hazzardly, meaning they plan a promotion or sale quickly to get business in the door or plan a workshop to happen in 2 weeks and then they say «I have to get a mailer out to my list».

Does this sound familiar?

I’m suggesting you plan your mailings annually along with your sales, workshops and promotions (even holiday mailings or annual update letters). Then if you can plan the design, messages, who it’s going to, how you’ll get it printed and mailed it will not only go much smoother BUT I’ll bet you get a much higher response too!

You will give yourself time to come up with a strategy rather than throwing together quick mailings which might not:

— flow with your brand
— get a clear message across
— include all pertinent info
— make them take action

Many business owners will also go to Kinko’s or Office Depot (which are great resources for some things or really last minute jobs) for their printing and then fold, stuff, label and stamp their own mailers. NO, NO, NO, depending on the number of mailers you have it could be much less expensive and less time consuming to go through a professional printer, print broker or even online and then to go to a local or online mail house for mailing services.

You don’t have to do it all yourself.

Besides, what is your hourly rate? How much is your time worth? You would most likely be better off outsourcing these types of things rather than spending your valuable time when you could be working with a client or attaining a new client instead.

While I’m on the subject, how many people do you have on your mailing list or current database? Are you including EVERYONE YOU KNOW? If not, WHY THE HECK NOT? Everyone you know will either be a prospect for your business OR a referral source without question. They all need to know what you’ve been up to or what you’re doing now in case they need your services/products or know someone who does.

I could go on and on with suggestions on who to use for printing, mailing, and all the services that go along with doing this but we’d be here forever. So, here are —

5 tips on how to manage your direct mail efficiently:

1. Plan for large mailings.

Your lists must be large, since even good response rates may fall between 2 percent and 4 percent. If you don’t have a very large list — meet more people!

2. Choose the best format.

There are three basic types of direct mail: postcards, letters and packages. Successful direct-mail letters are complex packages and if you want to virtually guarantee your mail gets opened, you can put it in a box or some bulk mailing package.

3. Assemble your campaign.

Direct-mail marketing is rarely a do-it-yourself job. The steps include: designing and printing the creative pieces, choosing the lists, and delivering them both to a mailing house for labeling and distribution. Most mailing houses will be cost effective for a minimum of 500 or more pieces for your addressing and postage handling and some can even do printing as well.

4. Test and measure results.

Direct-mail success is measured one campaign at a time. It’s essential to test various components of the campaign- -the lists, your offers and creative approaches—in order to continually improve your response rates. The key is to test just one component at a time and make incremental adjustments until your campaign produces optimal results.

5. Contact a Marketing Expert.

They can help you put a PLAN together. You don’t need to research it all or figure it all out yourself, they love to do that part. A marketing expert can help you with the campaign itself, what the message or design will be, who to send it to, when and how. They can also find the best printing, mailing and delivering resources available based on your time frame, your budget and your quantity.

I hope for your sakes you’re doing direct mailings pretty regularly in your business for part of your follow up and ongoing marketing to your list. Email is great but it certainly doesn’t reach everyone all the time so it’s not that reliable for your ONLY source of follow up marketing.

Let Online Market Help You These Holidays

When your heart starts to relax down, your spirits need to calm down, when you don’t will to go for your regular schedule, and every morning you really not will to start with, it’s the time to have a change. A change means to divert your attention and have little fun and recreation, just to recharge yourselves.

So it’s the time to plan to the tourists attracting destination. After browsing this all, is your destination gong to be some of the abroad places, as Mauritius, London or else. It’s just fabulous, as you are going to have really pleasant holidays all wrapped in the armor of love, happiness and fun.
But all you need to plan is a place where you would get peace, a place where you can just have your hearts sink in the deep furrows of nature and have fun enjoying the pleasant weather, which can make your visit all the more amiable. Look for the place where you can view the tourists hunts say from the archaeological buildings, museums, depicting the art and architecture of the place, great monuments and a lot more which can just capture your souls in themselves.

Then you have to also look for the place where you can have all the frolic activities, which can turn your holidays to be entertaining say as opera houses, clubs, discos and lot more.  Market and shopping would be your next requirement as you need to shop to savor the feelings and spirits of your holidays. But do you know that in such a place are you going to get the two basic things which you can not compromise? Which are food and accommodation?  So are you looking for the best and desirable accommodation, as per as your wish and which should also suits your financial parameters? Along with it you also get the tasty and yummy food too.

This web market is going to accomplish your this need and desire. Thus market is flourished with the best and detailed information of your hunt as per your wishes and desires. As for instance you planned to have a trip to London, you need to browse your destination and just type the keyword, which would throw in your path, the detailed knowledge of the appropriate time to visit, places to see, what kind of weather is prevailing there at your visit and what all do you should carry as per the weather chart, so that later on you are not hurt when you get there and also you are save from carrying extra lug gages.  

This online information is so wide spread that sitting at your homes you can have the hotels too reserved and altogether, will also make you know about the budget accommodation London.  This way are you going to enjoy in the cheapest way to preserve for the next trip too. So after the hunt of discount London hotels, now you should look for amenities and facilities as you can reliably and calmly look for.

I am dreaming of a tropical Christmas

Being a predominantly Christian country Christmas is a big occasion in the Philippines. It is also still a religious occasion, which of course it should be. Only a tiny percentage of people can afford gifts, so the emphasis is on family holidays, time together, and for many going to church. Very few families have anything special for Christmas lunch they just don’t have the money. They do make up for it, though, as Filipinos certainly know how to enjoy themselves.

Despite the lack of money in most families, Christmas starts early in the stores, around August. One thing they go in for in a big way here is Christmas lights. Sometimes even the poorest homes will be adorned with fairy lights, some having quite spectacular displays. Even in early November last year, as I travelled back from the jungle’s edge about 90km south, it was quite magical to see the Christmas lights as we got near the city.

My first Christmas in the country was memorable. I was invited to a girlfriend’s house Christmas Eve, a very poor but very friendly neighbourhood with mostly small timber houses cramped next to each other intimate to say the least. Outside in the garden there were lights everywhere, set up for the party that would last all evening and into the night. I remember sitting there as they got everything organised around me, how magical and special it all was. Just a few months earlier I had been a resident in England and had only experienced Christmas in England. Now, I was sitting outside on a hot Christmas Eve, the sound of tropical insects a prelude to the modern disco music that was to follow later. I loved it.

As with most occasions in the Philippines, there were lots of children. Neighbours came and went, people moved from one party to another, and there was a constant flow of people and especially children. Children’s games were followed later by adult versions of children’s games, most of which have come from Western influence, but Filipinos always put their own stamp on the foreign habits they adopt. Alcohol would not have been a part of the occasion, but the adults were delighted when I offered to buy beer and rum.

At midnight, I was advised to go inside. I soon saw why. All hell broke loose with fireworks as midnight approached, exploding from every tightly packed, confined little garden in the neighbourhood. Fireworks that would have been banned in the UK, but I have to admit they were very loud and impressive. I was amazed, as nobody had warned me of this tradition beforehand.

Now, all my Christmases are tropical, and very different from those in England. I sometimes wonder how much Christmas would change here if it ever became a wealthy country. The major differences between here and England are the profligate spending and materialism in England, and the normal subdued spending in the Philippines. Yet, it is the Filipinos who seem more able to enjoy it that the English.

While the body of the business plan should be 15 to 25 pages, the Appendix can be used for supplemental information. The Appendix should include a full set of financial projections, and as appropriate, technical and or operational drawings, partnership and or customer agreements, expanded competitor reviews, and lists of key customers among others.

If the Appendix is long, a divider should be used to separate it from the body of the plan, or a separate Appendix document should be prepared. These techniques ensure that the investor is not handed a thick business plan, which will make them queasy before even opening it up.

To summarize, the goal of the business plan is to create interest not to have an investor write you a check. In creating interest, the full story of your company need not be told. Rather, the plan should include the essential elements regarding why an investor should invest and spend more time examining the business opportunity. The shorter length does not mean that your business plan should take less time to prepare. Rather, it will take more time. As Mark Twain once said, If I had more time, I would write a shorter story. Likewise, condensing your business plan to a concise, compelling document is challenging and time consuming. Fortunately the rewards are significant.
When raising capital for a business venture, a company can either raise debt capital, equity capital or a combination of the two. Debt capital is money loaned to the company at an agreed interest rate for a fixed time period. Conversely, equity capital is money invested by owners shareholders for use in business operations that need not be repaid. Combinations include convertible securities which may be debt that can be converted into equity at some point in the future.

The simplest form of equity capital is common stock. Common stock has many distinguishing factors as follows:

Common stock is not convertible into another type of security
Each share enjoys one vote
Dividends are payable without limit but only when declared by the board of directors
In liquidation, common stock holders are the last priority to which to distribute assets

In venture capital transactions, there may be two types of common stock which are issued. The first is Class A common stock, which is like preferred stock without the special voting rights which some statutes require in shares labeled preferred. A second type of common stock is junior common stock. While this type of stock is not used very frequently, it allows companies to get cheap stock into the hands of key employees at minimal tax cost.

Determining what type of capital to raise and how to structure the financing transaction is of critical importance to growing ventures. As such, it is crucial to understand the key terms and consult the appropriate legal and business advisors when embarking on the capital raising process.

Lessons From Ups: Beating A Bad Economy!

The economy is declining but companies like the United Parcel Service are making ends meet and exceeding expectations. They have utilized the growth in the global economy, better supply chain management techniques and customers attempting to reduce costs by sending low priced packages. UPS has become a victor in an arena of losers precisely because it has implemented a winning strategy.

UPS has experienced two major upswings in the past few years. In the third quarter of 2007 they had an increase of net income of $1.08 billion dollars and over a year ago they had a $1.04 billion dollar upswing. This was after their 46 million dollar restructuring program in France to improve their supply chain. Other companies are not having nearly the same upswing or growth which makes UPS unique.

UPS Chief Executive Mike Eskew state with some happiness, «UPS turned in a solid performance in the face of a slower U.S. economy». This proves that diligent American companies have an opportunity to increase profits and continue to grow despite many of the difficulties that American companies face.

UPS has a number of strategies that it is using to achieve success that many businesses would be wise to pay attention to. These strategies are in the field of global expansion, reduction of cost, flexible labor costs and efficient supply chain management. The concepts make sense and are grounded in very basic principles of understanding what their main objective is (increasing shareholder wealth).

Strategy Concepts:

Global Expansion: UPS has been tapping into world markers much more successfully then many other organizations. They have their own aircraft division that delivers packages; they are spreading out throughout Europe and beginning to move into Asia. They are growing and beating out small competitors. When the global economy is expanding it is important for American businesses to get out there and conquer the market before others.

Reduction of Costs: UPS continually is looking for methods of reducing costs. They track fuel efficiency, labor costs, and other overhead to ensure they are reducing these expenses as much as possible. Every organization should be focusing on both long-term and short-term costs.

Flexible Labor Costs: In the United States labor costs can be a huge factor in whether or not a company is profitable. The automotive industry has been hit hard by unreasonable labor and benefit costs. UPS is utilizing flexible or seasonal labor that is hired for peak periods. 60,000 employees will be added in the United States to help with holiday packages.

Supply Chain Management: In the transportation industry supply chain management is of crucial important. If packages are shipped via long routes, old machinery, inability to track, etc… there is a good chance that costs will raise and profits will decline. When companies investing in their supply chain as UPS did in France they often are able to save millions of dollars while increasing efficiency.

UPS should be set as a standard of how companies can beat the declining economy problems of the U.S. When other companies are laying off workers UPS is putting more people to work. While business is becoming more difficult to conduct in the U.S., companies like UPS are creating more efficiency and are reaping the rewards. Companies have the opportunity to learn from UPS and develop their own growth strategies.

How to make the Switch to Booth Rental or Salon Rent a Chair?

Just because a competitor across the street has shifted their salon to rent a chair or booth rental business model, does not mean that you should follow suit. You may be under pressure if they try to poach your staff or you lose a stylist or two however, sometimes-forced change is good and in this case you might be forced to take a long hard look at your business model to decide if its for you? If you have good quality staff and you’re happy with running the traditional model you need not worry. Nevertheless, it’s always better to keep your ear to the ground and be ready for any changes that your competitor might make at your expense right?

One of the basic issues in managing the switch to rent a chair is dealing with the present and future employment status of your employees. Ideally you should try and convince some of the more ambitious staff to be entrepreneurial and take a leap of faith, as your existing staff already knows the systems and procedures and are acquainted with the work and salon culture. This makes for a significantly smoother transition for all parties but not always possible. Moreover if your existing staff make the switch, it will be a testament to you and the team further sending a message to other stylist in your area that you must have something going on if your own team are keen to make the switch.

Depending on your Government’s Labor Laws, you may or may not be able to ask your staff to resign from his or her existing position in order to take on the new venture. There should be no termination from your side unilaterally or else you may spend considerable time in court dealing with unfair dismissal claims. It really has to be the employees idea and their free will to resign because they favor the new contract and concept, and are happy to, in writing, terminate their existing employment contract to become self employed. At this time, you will also be required to pay all holiday pays, superannuation, etc as if the employee were leaving your salon.

If you have any apprentices and you decide to change to rent a chair or booth rental, it goes without saying in most states and countries, you cannot terminate the apprentice. Be sure to do your dewdiligence with you local governing body. In this case you have to let them continue their training and employment with you till they organically move on, and till that time, your salon will have to run with a mixed structure.

If you’re planning to shift to the rent a chair model, systems and procedures need to be clearly defined for its success. The very first thing you need to determine is the booth rental contract including such topics as, percentage rent or flat fee, professional products and payment and supply, inventory and stock control, billing clients, will the stylist make there own appointments, marketing, etc…

Some of your qualified employees may not be ambitious enough to make the switch to a booth renter. Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone so do not terminate them or else again, you could be spending considerable time in court defending your actions.

Good luck.