People are starting to see them everywhere. Little glimmers of hope are beginning to poke their way through the despair, surefire signals that the economy is starting to turn around. As the economic pendulum begins to swing and confidence starts to rise, it's more important than ever to ensure your business is in a position to gain market share when we come out on the other side.
So, what can you do to get ready? We all know that planning a budget, managing inventory, and knowing when to hire and fire employees are never easy, but a dysfunctional economy has now made forecasting all but impossible. Try tightening the planning and shortening the planning cycle. Review your progress more often than usual and re-evaluate your goals and budget monthly instead of just annually or quarterly. Look for leading indicators of sales like website traffic, phone calls or incoming leads. By building flexibility into your business plan, you can remain nimble and react quickly to unexpected events.Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Consider Your Copy
This article has been excerpted from Kick-Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps by Susan Gunelius, available from Entrepreneur Press.
Whether you're a small-business owner, a medium-size business owner, an eBay seller, or simply trying to break into the copywriting industry, understanding the fundamentals of writing sales-oriented copy and put you on a path to success. At its core, copywriting is another device in a business' marketing toolbox. Well-written copy can make or break an ad or marketing piece. With that in mind, copywriting can equate to either well-spent advertising investments or a waste of advertising dollars.Many people misinterpret the uniqueness of effective copywriting. I can't count the number of times I've heard freelance writers say they want to shift from article writing to copywriting as if it's simply an extension of their existing abilities. Copywriting does come naturally to some people, but for most, it's a foreign landscape they do not know how to navigate. Copywriting is about more than writing the hard sell sales letter that many short copywriting courses offer. In fact, I cringe when I see those over-the-top sales letters, which do little more than provide an ugly representation of copywriting, sales and marketing.
Motivate your customer to buy with these 10 copywriting steps:1. Exploit your product's benefits
2. Exploit your competition's weaknesses
3. Know your audience
4. Communicate W.I.I.F.M. (What's In It For Me?)
5. Focus on "you," not "we"
6. Understand your medium
7. Avoid T.M.I. (Too Much Information)
8. Include a call to action
9. C.Y.A. (Cover Your Ass)
10. Proofread
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Smaller Firms more Vulnerable to in-house Larceny
Excerpt
June 5, 2009 by Jim Giuliano
Posted in: Special Report
In an economic downturn, small firms find themselves hit by more incidents of in-house larceny. Here’s why - and what to do about it.
First, the statistics. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners looked at 959 cases of in-house fraud and embezzlement, and came up with the following conclusions:
* The median loss in this study was $175,000.
* The typical period between the time of the first act of fraud and the time someone was caught was two years. In other words, most of the instances of theft went undetected for long periods.
* Most of the thefts were committed by first-time offenders - people who appeared squeaky-clean prior to getting caught. Only 7% of fraud perpetrators in the study had prior convictions, and only 12% had been previously terminated by an employer for fraud-related conduct.
* Most of the perpetrators were caught as a result of tips from employees or others, rather than by audits (more on that below).
* Most of the victims were small businesses - who thought their size was an advantage for keeping track of cash and the people who handle it.
To make matters worse, in-house fraud and embezzlement tend to worsen as the economy worsens, for at least two reasons:
1. Cash-strapped employees get desperate and are more likely to scheme against their employers.
2. Layoffs tend to leave holes in the usual controls designed to prevent fraud.
What to do about it
The ACFE study examined what might have been done to prevent fraud in the 959 cases:
* Look for it in the obvious places. Fact is, fraud and embezzlement usually take place exactly where you’d expect: your accounting department that handles the money. There are variations of fraud and embezzlement - some in billing, some in accounts payable and so on. But no matter the variation, the problem usually exists in the accounting department.
* Use checks and balances as much as possible. As mentioned above, many instances of fraud were uncovered as a result of tips: one employee’s noting misdeeds by another. (In a minority of cases, the tips came from customers, vendors and others.) One suggestion: Use cross-training and job rotation, so that one employee isn’t solely responsible for one area all the time.
* Use surprise internal audits. Big, planned audits or those conducted by outsiders are effective and have their place, but the surprise internal audit remains the most effective deterrent and means of detection.
June 5, 2009 by Jim Giuliano
Posted in: Special Report
In an economic downturn, small firms find themselves hit by more incidents of in-house larceny. Here’s why - and what to do about it.
First, the statistics. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners looked at 959 cases of in-house fraud and embezzlement, and came up with the following conclusions:
* The median loss in this study was $175,000.
* The typical period between the time of the first act of fraud and the time someone was caught was two years. In other words, most of the instances of theft went undetected for long periods.
* Most of the thefts were committed by first-time offenders - people who appeared squeaky-clean prior to getting caught. Only 7% of fraud perpetrators in the study had prior convictions, and only 12% had been previously terminated by an employer for fraud-related conduct.
* Most of the perpetrators were caught as a result of tips from employees or others, rather than by audits (more on that below).
* Most of the victims were small businesses - who thought their size was an advantage for keeping track of cash and the people who handle it.
To make matters worse, in-house fraud and embezzlement tend to worsen as the economy worsens, for at least two reasons:
1. Cash-strapped employees get desperate and are more likely to scheme against their employers.
2. Layoffs tend to leave holes in the usual controls designed to prevent fraud.
What to do about it
The ACFE study examined what might have been done to prevent fraud in the 959 cases:
* Look for it in the obvious places. Fact is, fraud and embezzlement usually take place exactly where you’d expect: your accounting department that handles the money. There are variations of fraud and embezzlement - some in billing, some in accounts payable and so on. But no matter the variation, the problem usually exists in the accounting department.
* Use checks and balances as much as possible. As mentioned above, many instances of fraud were uncovered as a result of tips: one employee’s noting misdeeds by another. (In a minority of cases, the tips came from customers, vendors and others.) One suggestion: Use cross-training and job rotation, so that one employee isn’t solely responsible for one area all the time.
* Use surprise internal audits. Big, planned audits or those conducted by outsiders are effective and have their place, but the surprise internal audit remains the most effective deterrent and means of detection.
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