Customizing YourInternet Marketing Program By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I have a small business helping lawyers and accountants set up birthday greeting card programs for their customers. For a fee, they give me the names and birthdays of all their customers, and I generate a customized birthday greeting card for each customer - something unique to that customer which shows the professional really cares about them as individuals. I send the cards back to the professional, who signs and sends them out on their own stationery so the customer never knows my business was involved. I want to advertise this business on the Internet, but I'm not sure I should be using e-mail newsletters or search engine advertising as I perceive these as very impersonal methods of advertising. I'm afraid that by using them I'll be contradicting my marketing message, which is that my customers #150; and THEIR customers #150; will receive individualized, personalized service. Is there any way I can tailor my Internet marketing program so it sends the same customized, individualized messages I try to create for my professional clients?" You would be amazed how many times I'm asked this question: "I'd like to do more marketing online, but it seems so cold and impersonal . . . " Frequent readers of this column know that I'm no fan of e-mail as a means of communication, precisely because it is so #147;cold and impersonal", but there are lots of other options. Blogs, for one. According to Internet marketing expert and author of How to Win Sales Influence Spiders , Catherine Seda ( www.catherineseda.com ), "blogging can be used effectively for one-to-one marketing. If lawyers and accountants participate in blogs, you can find ones that offer business-generating tips for these professionals. Without promoting your business , you can respond to relevant questions. You'll automatically get a link back to your website, so if you impress blog readers, they can find you quickly and easily." To research relevant blogs, says Seda, you can use blog engines such as IceRocket or Technorati. You should also check out the websites of professional association magazines, as many of those have blogs targeting their members. The key is not to promote your business too aggressively, for fear you will turn your customers off, or (worse) generate negative feedback from other bloggers that will tarnish your reputation. Seda feels that this reader would probably not benefit from a blog of her own, "unless she has other tips she can share with her target market. Otherwise, she won't have enough content to share to keep her own blog fresh and growing. Plus, will lawyers and accountants seek out her blog to ask her their burning greeting card questions? Probably not. That's why blogging on blogs that are already popular with lawyers and accountants is a great way to start." Seda also feels this reader should not rule out e-newsletters: "If and when she has an active blog, she can create an online newsletter and simply re-publish the blog questions and answers (QAs) in her newsletter. Some people like to receive newsletters, some like to subscribe to blogs, so it's a good idea to offer both. Creating a QA newsletter based on your blog is a way to show more personalized communication with your community." Another approach is to offer tips on your website. True, this isn't "personalized" information, says Seda, but "it is still valuable. Think about your own target audience-lawyers for example. While they offer personalized services, you still see them advertising in banner ads, e-mail, online newsletters and pay-per-click ads. Don't worry about any possible contradiction. There are many companies that offer customized services and use the Web to share their message." A large part of the problem here, I think, is that this reader is targeting lawyers and accountants #150; possibly the most marketing-challenged people on the face of Planet Earth. A lot of these folks (and not just the "old grey heads," either) think it's unethical and immoral to talk about what you do in a way that might even remotely be perceived as "advertising". Many lawyers don't even communicate with their clients by e-mail, for Heaven's sake, much less read blog postings. Why not look for other professionals #150; more Internet friendly professionals such as stockbrokers and public relations firms #150; that could benefit from your service? One more thing: with a business like this, you#146;re going to have to make sure your clients' (and their clients') information is kept strictly confidential. A lot of professionals will be very nervous about sharing their clients' personal information #150; such as birthdates and hobbies #150; with you, even for a purpose as benign as this. If someone steals your laptop and puts your birthday cards up on the Internet (with clients' names and links to pornography sites), you're toast. And be careful not to make your cards too personalized: I know I would feel a little "creeped out" if my accountant sent me a birthday card with details about my personal finances that I didn't even know SHE knew . . . Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com )is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS televisionseries 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax orfinancial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualifiedprofessional licensed in your state. To find out more about CliffEnnico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit ourWeb page at www.creators.com .COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE,INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

My Faceless Friend On Facebook By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com Joseph Blow, a man I don't know, is sitting down eating a muffin . . . right now.I know this because he told me so, along with a couple of hundred other people.I do not know Joseph Blow, but he is my friend. My friend on Facebook. Joseph Blow is my friend because he is a friend (on Facebook) of someone else I don't know. Who is a friend of someone else I don't know. Who is a friend of someone I met briefly during a small business networking session three years ago in Poughkeepsie, New York. Someone to whom, in a moment of weakness, I gave my business card. I have never attempted to contact Joseph Blow. He probably does not know who I am. But I know he is sitting down eating a muffin . . . right now. This gives me power. I do not know what Joseph Blow looks like, because when I look at his Facebook profile there is a picture of a cartoon character where his photo should be. A cartoon character I also do not know. Joseph Blow does not own a digital camera. Or else he is incredibly ugly. And he does not respect copyrights. Which means he cannot truly be my friend. Janet Doe, a girl I don't know, is also my friend. She is eating bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast . . . right now (even though it#146;s 8:00 p.m. my time). Janet likes to eat breakfast late. Or else she lives in Australia. Because I am friends with Joseph Blow, and I am friends with Janet Doe, Janet Doe will soon be friends with Joseph Blow. Because people with friends ask all of their friend's friends to be their friends as well. But I do not think that Janet Doe and Joseph Blow will ever be friends. People who eat bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast are a different breed than muffin people. They vote for different political parties, and have different tastes in art. This is well known. Because Joseph Blow and Janet Doe are both my friends, it is difficult for people to tell which camp I fall into. Do I eat muffins or bacon with scrambled eggs for breakfast? Nobody knows. I'll be damned if I'm going to tell them. Let them guess. What does this have to do with running a business? Because there are books #150; LOTS and LOTS of books #150; that say you should create profiles on Facebook and other social networking sites and collect lots and lots of friends. Because then you can sell stuff to them. Lots and lots of stuff. It is called a "Web 2.0 strategy," or, more simply, "viral marketing". If your friends buy your stuff, then their friends will buy your stuff, and their friends, and so forth. Before long everyone on Facebook will buy your stuff. And you will be very, very rich.But there are two problems with that. First: it does not follow that because Person A likes muffins for breakfast, and Person A and Person B are friends on Facebook, that Person B likes muffins. Person B may actually hate muffins, and will hate you for trying to sell him a muffin on Facebook. Because all his true friends know he is a He-man muffin hater, and always has been. Second: to have friends one must be a friend. If you buy my stuff on Facebook, because you are my friend, then I will have to buy your stuff on Facebook, because I am your friend. In the words of Stevie Wonder, "that's what friends are for." But I may not want your stuff. I may actually hate your stuff. But I don't want to make a friend angry, because then you will tell all my friends on Facebook that I am not a true friend. So I will buy your stuff. With the money you paid me for my stuff. And I will then sell it on eBay. Net gain: zero. Marketing on Facebook and other social networking websites is a very tricky business. Most people are so happy to have "friends" they admit anyone who asks. If you allow people you do not know to become your social networking "friends", you open yourself (and them) up to all sorts of mischief. Friends do not "spam" friends, or offer them goods and services they don#146;t need or want. Your "friends" on social networking websites should be only (1) people with whom you have an actual personal or business relationship, (2) people you like, respect or admire, and/or (3) people you care enough about to want to know what they eat for breakfast. If anybody else asks to be your friend, hit the "ignore" key. Someday I will kill Joseph Blow (remove him from my "friends" list on Facebook). But not right now. He is sitting down eating a muffin . . . right now . . . and I want him to have a good last meal. Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

The Only Two Ways To Raise Revenue By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I'm an accountant in a solo practice. For some time now, I've been thinking about raising my fees. Because I spend a lot of time in my car, the rising cost of gasoline is really biting into my income more than perhaps it does for other accountants. I need to cover these increases in my operating costs, but I'm afraid that if I raise my fees to cover these costs I may lose some key clients, which would be a disaster for my practice. Is there any practical solution to this dilemma?" Whenever you run a service business, one of the hardest things you can do is raise your prices. Even though you can demonstrate that your clients are still getting a bargain - because by operating alone you can charge significantly less than established firms in your area - they will still grumble about the increase. Inevitably, no matter what you do, you may lose one or two clients by raising your fees. But by not raising your fees, you may be doing worse long-term damage to your practice. There are two ways - and only two - you can increase your business revenue (if any accountants are reading this, I am referring here to "gross revenue", "gross sales" or "gross income" - the top line of the profit and loss statement). Either: you increase your prices; and/or you increase your sales (by developing new services, by finding new uses for your existing products and services, by expanding into new geographic markets, or by selling more aggressively to your existing customers). Before raising your prices, you should explore every possible way to increase your sales. But if that's not possible, then you have to bite the bullet and figure out a way to increase your prices and keep customer loss to an absolute minimum. First, never, EVER increase your fees without telling customers in advance that you are doing so. Clients hate - I mean HATE - receiving surprises in their monthly invoices. Always be sure to give your clients plenty of advance notice that a fee increase is coming. If you publish your fee schedule on your Website (always a good idea), announce the change in boldface type at the top of the fee schedule, including the effective date (for example, "NOTICE TO CLIENTS: my hourly rate will be increasing to $XXX effective August 1, 2008"). If you don't publish your fee schedule, send a "blitz" e-mail message to your clients, or put up a blog posting announcing the price hike. Always make the effective date at least one to two months in the future so that the maximum possible number of clients will see your notice before you send out invoices at the higher price. And always mention the price increase when clients call or e-mail to order new services from you. As for justifying the price increase, the best way is to point out that increases in your cost of doing business - such as the recent and ongoing spike in gasoline prices - make the increase necessary. While your clients won't like it, they are more likely to swallow the increase, especially since in inflationary times they are experiencing cost increases themselves and are raising their prices accordingly. If, however, you are raising your prices by an amount significantly higher than the current inflation rate, you will have to explain why your increases are greater than the norm - for example, by pointing out that you spend more time in your car than most accountants do and are therefore more vulnerable to gas price hikes than they are. Don't wait for your client to ask - volunteer this information up front so you can "spin" the information in a positive way. Should you offer some extra service as an inducement for clients to accept your price increase? The short answer is "yes", especially if the increase will make you less competitive, but make sure the extra service will not require you to spend more time or money because if it does, you might find yourself back in the same place you started. For example, an accountant might offer clients an extra year of warranty protection against mistakes that the IRS might discover on audit - this doesn't cost anything, and is probably something you would do for your clients anyway to keep from being sued for malpractice. Finally, always make sure that even after the price increase, you are charging slightly less than your competitors who are in comparable situations (in this case, solo accountants in your area). That way, even if your clients are disgruntled, they will stick with you if only because they can't get a better deal elsewhere. Yes, it's painful, but you shouldn't hesitate to raise your prices if that's the only way to maintain your profit margins and pay your (increasing) bills on time. Your customers may complain, but the alternative is for you to reduce your income. Given the choice between explaining a price increase to my customers, and explaining a reduction in income to my spouse, it's a no brainer . . . Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

Why A Web-Based Business Still Needs Merchant Accounts By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I have been running a small online service business for several years. Up to now we've accepted only checks or cash, but a number of our customers are now asking to pay by credit card. It seems to be a lot of hassle to maintain merchant accounts with all four major credit card companies (American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa). Would it be better for me just to open an account with PayPal , where my customers can pay me using their credit cards but I only have to deal with one bill each month?" Once upon a time, if you wanted to accept credit card payments in your Web-based business, you had no choice: you had to open merchant accounts with all four of the major credit card companies, pay (in some cases) minimum monthly fees for their services, pay for a credit card "swiper" and other equipment (which, as an online business, you seldom if ever used), and reconcile four detailed statements each month. By using an online payment service such as PayPal ( PayPal ), your customers can pay for your products and services using their credit cards, but you do not have to maintain merchant accounts with any credit card company. PayPal charges the buyer#146;s credit card, deducts its fees and deposits the balance into your PayPal account. For all its convenience, however, PayPal hasn't completely eliminated the need to establish your own merchant accounts with credit card companies, according to Michael Guerin of Automated Merchant Processing, LLC ( www.ampyourcashflow.com ), which helps small businesses set up merchant accounts and audit them for accuracy. "PayPal works great if you're running a sideline business and not expecting a regular volume of transactions on a consistent basis," says Guerin, pointing out that PayPal is easy to set up, extremely convenient to use, and does not charge a "gateway" or minimum monthly fee, as credit card processing companies do -- you are charged fees only when someone buys something from you using PayPal. But Guerin points out that using only an online payment service like PayPal to process credit card transactions has its limitations, which you will encounter sooner or later as your business grows. For example: Before allowing your customers to pay by credit card, PayPal will prompt them to at least consider using their PayPal account or bank account for payment. While PayPal legitimately wants to discourage people from incurring unnecessary credit card debt, Guerin says "the extra steps might deter some impulse buyers, who will lose heart and exit the service before making their payment". If you are selling information products (such as e-books), you will want to automatically redirect the customer to your Website after they make their purchase, but PayPal will do that only if someone pays directly from their PayPal account rather than use their credit card. If you are selling physical, tangible products and want to outsource your packing and shipping to an outside order fulfillment center, Guerin says, you can link to one with a merchant account, but you can#146;t do that with PayPal. But probably the biggest shortcoming of online payment services, according to Guerin, is their inability to help you deal with credit card "chargebacks", where a customer pays for something using a credit card, and then retracts or cancels the transaction after you have shipped the item. "In any chargeback dispute involving a credit card payment, PayPal will almost always side with the buyer, because that's what the credit card company will do, and you can't really blame them" says Guerin. "If you don't have a merchant account, you have no customer relationship with the credit card company, whereas the buyer does. Even if PayPal goes to bat for you, whose side do you think the credit card company will take in the dispute?" Guerin advises opening several merchant accounts in addition to your PayPal account if you expect, or when you have, consistent monthly credit card transactions. Here are some of Guerin's tips for dealing with merchant accounts: ask lots of upfront questions about the fee structure, because "it's more complicated than you might think"; know the monthly volume limits on your Visa and Mastercard accounts, and make sure you stay within them; if customers fax you orders using a credit card authorization form, be sure to save it as it will protect you in the event of a chargeback, but "use a Magic Marker to black out the credit card number (except for the last four digits)" to prevent identity theft; if you think a customer is going to "charge back" an order, call the credit card company, warn them it's coming, and explain the situation so they don#146;t automatically approve it; and "if you have a brick and mortar store and you're also selling online, get two separate merchant accounts with each credit card company, and tie one to your terminal, the other to your website -- your bookkeeper will love you for that," says Guerin. Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

Your Insurance Broker Can Save Your Business By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I'm just starting a small service business. Even though I've formed a limited liability company (LLC) to run the business, I know that I still need insurance. But what kind? I've spoken to at least three insurance brokers about my needs, but their advice so far has been all over the place. Do you have any suggestions?" First of all, congratulations on realizing that you still need insurance even though you form a corporation or LLC for your business. A lot of people don#146;t know that #150; they think the corporation or LLC will be enough to protect them from legal liability. But it's not true #150; even with a corporation or LLC: you are still personally liable for negligent acts or omissions you yourself (as opposed to your business partners) commit; you are still personally liable for any business debts and obligations (such as your lease, or a bank line of credit) that you personally guarantee; and your business assets (as opposed to your house and other personal assets) are 100% exposed to business creditors, lawsuits and other liabilities. Self-employed people often don't treat the insurance profession with the respect it deserves. I know some agents are extremely aggressive in their sales tactics, but sometimes it's for your own good. Let me tell you how my insurance broker saved my business . . . When I first started my law practice, I made an appointment to speak to my insurance broker about malpractice insurance #150; I had always worked for large law firms that provided this coverage, and didn't know the first thing about it. My broker obtained quotes from several companies, met with me to compare the policies, and together we picked a coverage plan that I felt gave me the protection I needed at a price I could afford. As I rose to leave her office, my insurance broker said "Sit back down, Cliff. We're not done yet. I'm not going to let you leave this office until you sign up for disability coverage." A little taken aback, I responded "Hold on, I know that's fairly expensive coverage. Do I really need it? After all, I'm just practicing law #150; as long as my brain functions and I#146;m not in a coma, how can I really be disabled enough not to work?" "Simple. You're going to spend a fair amount of time working out of your house, right?" "Right." "But you're not going to see clients in your home, right?" "Right." "So when a client wants to meet with you, what are you going to do?" "Meet them at their office, or at a local restaurant or diner if they don't have one." "And how are you going to get there?" "I'm going to drive, duh . . . " "Okay. So let's say you break your right foot." "No problem. I can still practice law." "But how can you drive a car without your right foot?" She had me there. We looked over some disability policies, and I signed up for the cheapest coverage, as I still wasn#146;t convinced I needed it. Fast forward five years #150; a sweltering hot day in July. I live in a fairly windy part of town, and all of us in the neighborhood have developed creative strategies for keeping the covers on our backyard barbecue grills from blowing away. Mine was extremely low tech #150; whenever I finished grilling I placed a 35-pound rock on top of the grill cover. That sucker wasn't going nowhere. Now, I can't tell you how many hundreds of times I removed that rock from on top of the grill, done my grilling, cleaned the grill, and replaced the rock . . . all without incident. Not this time. Maybe my hands were a little greasy, maybe I was momentarily distracted, but when I grabbed the rock this time it slipped out of my hands and fell five feet . . . onto my bare right foot. Dear readers, please trust me that you do not know the meaning of pain until you drop a 35-pound rock on your bare foot from five feet up. I was rushed to the local hospital emergency room where they repositioned all the bones and put me in a plaster cast . . . for six weeks. Did you know you can't drive a car without your right foot? For six weeks I was totally incapacitated. Oh sure, I could work on the computer, but I couldn't meet with clients, mail documents out, or perform just about any of the clerical chores that come with a corporate law practice. That disability policy sure came in handy . . . and my broker got a huge gift basket that Christmas. A good insurance broker is one of your key advisors when you start any kind of small business. Listen to what they have to say. And beware of falling rocks . . . Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Franchisee? By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I'm looking at a number of options for setting up my own business, including some franchises. I'm wondering, though, if a franchise would be a good fit for me. Is there any way of knowing if my personality would suit me for a franchise as opposed to my own startup business?" When you buy a franchise, you buy a pre-existing business plan that has been proven successful in other (hopefully, lots of other) locations around the country. You are assigned a franchise territory, you are trained in the operation of that business, you lease retail or office space (although there are some newer franchises you can operate from a home office) within the territory, and you start a local business using the franchise's trademarks. When you buy a franchise, you are "hedging your bets". Published data demonstrate that franchised retail and service businesses generally fail less often than their standalone counterparts. Note that it's not correct to say franchised business SUCCEED MORE OFTEN than standalone small businesses, merely that they FAIL LESS OFTEN #150; quite a different thing. This shouldn't be surprising. When you buy a franchise, you are joining a "street gang" of entrepreneurs. A solid franchise will train you in the business, help you pick the right location, furnish you will all necessary equipment and supplies, send their employees out to help you with your "grand opening", and make available a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week toll-free hotline to answer any questions you may have. If the franchise can't answer a question, you've got all of your neighboring franchisees to tap for advice, who will be happy to return your e-mails and telephone calls because (A) they have their own franchise territories and are not competing with you, and (B) they probably have some questions of their own you can help answer. In the words of the Broadway musical "West Side Story": "when you're a Jet, if the spit hits the fan, you've got brothers around, you're a family man . . . " (apologies to Messrs. Bernstein and Sondheim). But that security comes with a price . . . Unlike Burger King's customers, you cannot "have it your way" when you buy a franchise. You must follow the franchise model, often very closely, and seek the franchise's permission to deviate even slightly from that model. Franchises are all about uniformity and consistency #150; a Burger King restaurant in Bangor, Maine offers its customers exactly the same experience that a Burger King in San Diego, California does. If even one franchisee steps out of line and does something different, it affects the entire franchise system. Now, when you first buy a franchise, the franchise rules are no big deal. After all, you are new to the business, and you're very grateful for the detailed instructions and training the franchise is giving you. After a year or two, however, you will know the business fairly well #150; probably as well as the franchise itself does, and perhaps a little better because you know your local market better than it does. That's when the franchise restrictions start to chafe. You may have excellent ideas for improving the franchise, but you can't execute them unless you can persuade the franchise to adopt them for the entire nationwide system. You will start wondering why you are paying 8% to 12% of your gross sales each month to a faraway company that's no longer providing you with the intense support they did in the early months. An old college friend of mine now runs a successful home improvement franchise. I once asked him what he looks for when evaluating new franchisees, and I have never forgotten his answer: "We look for good second lieutenants, Cliff. We don't look for buck privates, because they need to be told every day how to tie their shoelaces. But we also don't look for generals who think they know more about the business than we do." If you are the type of person who needs some structure in your worklife, and are not afraid of selling, a franchise might be a good fit for you. If the thought of selling makes you gag, do not buy a franchise #150; unless you are buying an extremely well established and recognized franchise, the franchise name won#146;t sell itself. You have to go out and build the franchise brand within your assigned territory. On the other hand, it's possible to be too entrepreneurial for a franchise. If you are the type of person who can't follow orders and always think your judgment is better than your boss' (which, after all, may be one reason you are considering self-employment right now), you may find a franchise too restrictive and confining. Start your own business instead #150; that way, you're 100% in charge and can do whatever you want, whenever you want, without having to get anyone's permission or approval. Except, of course, for your customers . . . Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

What People Look For when they Shop Online By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I've had a successful retail business for some time, and am thinking about selling online through my own website, and perhaps a Yahoo! Store. I carry a variety of merchandise, though, and there's no way I will be able to list everything on the website. What type of merchandise do people look for online, and how do I set this website up to attract the maximum amount of traffic?" I've said it before in this column, and I'll say it again...the Internet is the future of small business retail. Two humble opinions: You're crazy if you're not selling online #150; more and more people are doing their shopping (and living) on the Web, people expect you to have a website, and if you don't have one you risk losing credibility with your customers; and If you're selling online, you're crazy if you don't have your own website, because it's the only place on the entire Internet where you can sell stuff and keep 100% of the money you make. Although it's been with us for over a decade now, the Internet is still in its infancy, and we still don't know everything it's capable of. Having said that, there are four things people routinely look for when they go online, and your website should feature as many of these as possible. People Look for Information. The Internet is the most amazing research tool ever invented. When people want to look something up quickly, they don't go to encyclopedias or libraries anymore, they go online. With a few mouse clicks, you usually can find the information you're looking for. So, first off, your website needs to have more than just stuff to sell. It must have information that (1) people are looking for and (2) search engines will find easily. Also, given today's shortening attention spans the information must be "cool and compelling" -- it must entertain as well as inform. So write some articles, do a "blog" or record a Podcast on the stuff you sell (or just on life in general) #150; and keep putting new content up every week so the search engines keep coming back and boost your search rankings. People Look for Stuff They Can't Find Locally. Ours is an age of instant gratification. If people can find the stuff you sell in their nearby Wal-Mart or CostCo, they won't be looking for it online. They won't want to wait a week for you to ship it to them, and they won't want to pay shipping and handling charges on top of a retail price. Your best bet in selling online is to feature stuff that's difficult to find locally #150; people will buy from your website, because they can get their hands on the stuff quickly and will pay a premium price, plus shipping charges, for that convenience. People Look for Great Deals on Stuff They Can Find Locally. Last year my beloved 30-year-old leather briefcase fell apart, and I needed a new one. Local stores had similar leather briefcases in the $200 to $250 range. I went on eBay and found one offered for sale from a guy in Texas who had only used it once or twice. I bid on it, and got it for $25 plus shipping. Enough said. People Look for Like-Minded People. People these days lament the decline of "community spirit," but they're wrong. Communities are alive and well #150; they are just moving online. A lot of Web surfers are finding out they have more in common with someone halfway around the world than with their next-door neighbor. Do what you can to create a "community" of people on your website who are talking to you, and to each other, about the problems your products and services help solve. Three wonderful things will happen when you do this: People will come back to your website over and over again to catch up with their online "friends" (and view your latest offerings); People will view your website as a place where people with similar interests or problems hang out, and will tell their friends about it; and You will get amazing free market research by watching their "postings", which will tell you what you're doing right with your business and what needs to change. Selling online today is, I imagine, a lot like driving a car was back in 1915 #150; it wasn't easy, you had to know how it worked "underneath the hood", there was no support infrastructure (such as paved roads, AAA, and gas stations on every corner) to help you if you got stuck, and you spent lots of time just getting it to go from point A to point B. But everyone back then knew that the days of horses and wagons were coming to a permanent close, and that they were going to have to get comfortable with automobiles, like them or not. The Internet is here to stay #150; get over it, and get on it. Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

When You're So Far quot;Ahead Of The Curvequot; You Disappear From View By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com quot;I have a small e-retailing business and want to make sure I'm attracting the most traffic I can on the Web.nbsp; I've got about a dozen books on how to market your business online, and I admit I'm pretty confused.nbsp; It seems like every month there's a new place you can advertise your business ndash; a new social networking site, 'virtual communities' like www.secondlife.com, and so forth.nbsp; Are any of these worthwhile?quot; Marketing your business on the Web can be extremely time-consuming.nbsp; If you have a Website for your business, you have to keep creating and posting new content to it so the search engine quot;spidersquot; will find your site and launch it to the top of the natural search rankings.nbsp; If you have a blog, you have to keep the bloody thing up to date even when you're on vacation or traveling on business. But the new social networking websites, precisely because they're so interactive and (let's face it) fun, can be an even bigger quot;time vampirequot;.nbsp; It seems like every day I'm receiving e-mails from people who want to be my quot;friendquot; online, or quot;link inquot; with me.nbsp; In many cases I have a vague recollection of actually meeting these folks once upon a time, and I feel compelled to respond to avoid alienating them.nbsp; But should I respond?nbsp; Do I really need a Facebook profile in my world? Back in 1998 I had the most successful Internet radio program in the country.nbsp; Called quot;Succeeding in Your Businessquot; (just like this column), it was launched by a startup company that was affiliated with a national chain of small business publications.nbsp; Three or four times a year, this company flew me across the country to their studios in Malibu, California, and paid me some fairly decent cash to record a one hour weekly talk show with call-in guests, advice from experts, and the like. I don't know how they rate Internet radio programs, but I was told that my show was the Number One ranked Internet radio program in the U.S. at that time.nbsp; I had about 350 individual, unique listeners . . . nationwide.nbsp; Six months later, the show ended because the company couldnrsquo;t attract enough advertisers to keep it going. Now, the show was fabulous (if I do say so myself), the broadcast quality was terrific, and the company went to great lengths to advertise the program.nbsp; So what went wrong? The answer is clear to anyone who remembers what surfing the Internet was like in 1998.nbsp; The vast majority of Internet users then used dial-up connections, and you couldn't listen to Internet radio via a dial-up connection.nbsp; Broadband quot;streamingquot; connections to the Internet (such as cable modems and DSL) were in their infancy in 1998, and only a small handful of technophiles and quot;early adoptersquot; had them.nbsp; Many of them were listening to my show, but there werenrsquo;t enough of them in 1998 to generate advertiser interest.nbsp; Today, Internet radio is a big deal, attracting millions of listeners nationwide and generating huge advertising bucks.nbsp; But it took almost 10 years for broadband Internet access to become widespread enough to make it commercially viable. This happens a lot with emerging technologies and new media:nbsp; television was invented in the 1920s but didn't become a viable advertising medium until the 1950s; radio was invented in the 1890s but didn't become a viable medium until the 1920s.nbsp; If you commit heavily to an early stage technology and your marketplace hasn't widely accepted it, you might find that you are so quot;ahead of the curvequot; that you have disappeared from view.nbsp; As with all marketing, you go where your customers actually are, not where you want them to be.nbsp; Is your marketplace actively participating in the emerging Web 2.0 technologies?nbsp; If so are they actually buying stuff there?nbsp; If the answer to either question is quot;noquot;, that's a good sign you shouldnrsquo;t be spending much of your precious marketing time and money there . . . at least not yet. If a presence on Web 2.0 will help your business grow, then go for it.nbsp; If it won't, or if it's too early to tell, hold off a bit and see what develops.nbsp; Spend your time and your money on the Web media that are actually reaching the marketplaces you want to target, and that are quot;pullingquot; people to buy stuff online based on hard analytic data. And one more thing about social networking sites:nbsp; be careful who you allow to be your quot;friendsquot; online, or invite to join your online quot;networkquot;.nbsp; One thing the Web hasn't changed ndash; people still judge you by the company you keep, and if I think your Facebook friends are a bunch of weirdos, I will assume you are one as well and steer clear of you and your business, even if I like the stuff yoursquo;re got for sale. Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'.nbsp; This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state.nbsp; To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

Personal Productivity: Don#146;t Forget to Play By Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro reg; www.TheProductivityPro.com Are you working your life away? Yes, you, the one working six days a week, 12 hours a day. Oh, so you "rest" on the seventh day? Hey, even God rested on the seventh day. You, however, put in a few more hours. When did you confuse your job with your life? Leisure, wellness, fun, and stress reduction are all an essential part of any productive routine. If you have a hard time kicking back, here are a few suggestions you should try. Close the mental office "door" and turn off work each day. It's okay to love what you do; it's okay to have passion for your work. But you're not defined by what you do professionally. Stop being a workaholic, and learn to slow down. Leave work on time, so you can get home and enjoy your personal life. Your personal life is at least as important as your work life. Facing this reality and learning to work with it will make you feel more successful and less stressed. Keep your stress levels low. Lighten up and laugh at life's absurdities. Remember, the lower your stress level, the higher your appreciation of life and your ability to care for others. Rest, relax, and play daily. Some 40 percent of people surveyed say they don't spend enough time enjoying leisure activities. The biggest obstacle to play? Ourselves. Give yourself permission to have fun. Go on a long vacation each year. Everyone needs a change of pace and scenery and fun on a regular basis. Vacations offer the restorative power many people desperately need. Without the ability to recharge your batteries for a long period of time, you're on a slippery slope to burnout. Create fond memories with the people you love. Don't ignore your family in favor of earning a living. Create positive experiences that stir their emotions and will therefore impact them, so they'll remember the good times. Have a regular "family time" with loved ones. The traditions you share with your family are important ways to nurture and express your love for the important people in your life, and to create those fond memories that make you a family. Make time for a favorite hobby. Having a hobby is a great way to re-energize. Whether you like to knit, create scrapbooks, or design clothes, do something regularly. Make time for it. Hobbies are a wonderful outlet for the creative expression missing in many people's lives. Force yourself to slow down and stop rushing around. Time management doesn't mean packing your day like a moving van, ensuring every single minute is full. What's really at issue is not the quantity of time, but its texture. Take care of yourself on a regular basis. This doesn't just mean going to the doctor and dentist regularly. Reconnect with your childhood, keep up an active social life, pamper yourself occasionally, and don't feel guilty about downtime. Some people may perceive playing to be frivolous, but they're missing the point. You need occasional periods of recreation in order to avoid burn-out and to keep caring about what you're doing with your life. Slow down and smell the flowers occasionally! Play is more than something "extra" -- it's the ultimate pillar on which your life rests. copy; 2008 Laura Stack. Laura Stack ( www.TheProductivityPro.com ) is a motivational speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlierreg; with Maximum Results in Minimum Time#153;. She is the president of The Productivity Proreg;, Inc., a time management firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations. Since 1992, Laura has given presentations on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today#146;s workplaces, for companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, and 3M. She is the bestselling author of The Exhaustion Cure (2008); Find More Time (2006); and Leave the Office Earlier (2004). Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>

One More Time, Are You 100% Sure Your Company Legally Exists? By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I just read your column in my local newspaper regarding a client who thought he and some others had formed a limited liability company (LLC) only to find out they had never filed Articles of Organization. In California at least, I believe your conclusion as to what needs to be done is wrong. The California Secretary of State's office will not allow you to file articles (or just about any other document for that matter) with a date earlier than the date you submit the document for filing. Therefore, the LLC will not be in existence in California until the articles are filed and there is no way to have the formation be effective three years earlier. California would deem the members of the purported LLC to be partners. From a tax standpoint, the clients would probably be okay as they reported and paid taxes on their K-1 income. It would be a problem, however, from a liability perspective. Rather than having the limited liability protection that an LLC provides to its members, each of the members would be deemed partners until the LLC is officially formed and would, therefore, have unlimited liability for the debts of the deemed partnership. A lawyer who forgets to file the articles for his client would probably have exposure for malpractice that would go beyond paying any penalties out of his pocket." I am grateful to the California attorney who sent me the above response to my column on LLCs earlier this month, and of course he is absolutely correct, not only in California but quite a few other states where the same result would apply. The problem was that the LLC filers in my earlier column were "do it yourselfers" #150; they did not hire an attorney to help them set up their LLC. Or perhaps they used one of the many "do it yourself incorporation" services available on the Web and didn't follow the instructions carefully enough. Or perhaps they hired an attorney who prepared the documents, mailed them out for signature, and didn't follow up to make sure the documents were signed and returned so that he could make the appropriate filings on behalf of the LLC. Or perhaps this was a Delaware or Nevada LLC doing business in another state, and the principals moved from one state to another without filing a Certificate of Registration in the new state. In any case, the result is not a good one #150; if you want your LLC or corporation to protect you against liability in the event of a lawsuit, you must #150; absolutely MUST #150; make the appropriate filings with your state Secretary of State#146;s office. While a number of states may let you "cure" the failure to file after the fact by paying a hefty penalty, many don't, and the outcome would be the same as in California #150; the LLC members would have unlimited personal liability for anything the LLC did during the #147;gap period#148; before it actually filed its Articles of Organization with the state. Here are the rules, pure and simple, when setting up a corporation or LLC: Where the corporation or LLC will be doing business in the same state where it is incorporated, it must file paperwork with the state Secretary of State's office, get a federal tax ID number from the IRS, and register for all state and local taxes. Where the corporation or LLC will be doing business in a different state from where it is incorporated, it must file paperwork with the state Secretary of State's office in BOTH jurisdictions (the state where it is incorporated and the state where it is actually conducting business), get a federal tax ID number from the IRS, and register for state and local taxes in both jurisdictions (unless the state of incorporation is a "convenience" jurisdiction such as Delaware or Nevada which does not require corporations or LLCs to register for state and local taxes unless they are actually doing business there). When you have a corporation or LLC and you move from one state to another, you are required to file paperwork with the state Secretary of State's office in both the old and the new jurisdictions, and register for state and local taxes in the new jurisdiction (you don#146;t need to get a new federal tax ID number unless you have changed your entity type #150; for example, converted from a corporation into an LLC). Miss any one of these important steps, and you're setting yourself up for some real compliance headaches down the road. If you#146;re not sure exactly how and when to do this #150; PLEASE HIRE AN ATTORNEY. He will get it right, and you can deduct his fees. If he doesn#146;t get it right, you can sue him for malpractice. If you do it yourself and louse it up, you will have nobody to blame (or sue) but yourself. Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'.nbsp; This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state.nbsp; To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. More >>