Month: May 2008

Categories
Online Business

How To Fix Low Ezine Newsletter Deliverability

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If you publish your ezine through one of the emailing list services then you will also be provided with tracking stats for each issue. Are you happy with the open rate, or does it seem exceptionally low for each issue? Not only is it important that you publish your newsletter regularly, but equally important is that your subscribers receive it.

Is your list a double opt-in list?
Do you send both a Text and HTML version of your newsletter?
If you have answered NO to one or both of these questions you could be sabotaging your own newsletter efforts!

Why do I need a double opt-in list?

Double opt-in is the process whereby when someone signs up to receive your newsletter via your website they receive an email from your email list provider, which asks them to confirm their subscription by clicking on a link in the email. Once they have clicked on this link they are then confirmed as a subscriber to your list.

This process is known as double opt-in as:
:: they opt-in once via your newsletter sign up form on your website; and
:: they opt-in again by clicking the link on the email that they receive from your email list provider.

It is very important that you have this process in place as it avoids a subscriber being signed up to your newsletter by a third party, and therefore reduces the number of spam reports that you are likely to get. Your subscriber has had to confirm for a second time that they want to be on your mailing list.

The downside to this is that your subscriber may not confirm their subscription, in which case you would lose the subscriber. But if they really do want to receive information from you they will be on the lookout for your confirmation email. And isn’t it better to have 100 subscribers who really do want to receive your information rather than 1,000 subscribers who aren’t that interested?

Just recently I had a conversation with support at my email list provider and asked them about their double opt-in process. They told me that those lists that are set up as double opt-in lists are sent via a secure server that has been approved by the ISPs thereby resulting in a higher deliverability of your ezine. Lists that are not set as double opt-in get sent out on a different server and could result in your ezine being blocked by the ISP.

So even if your subscriber has you on their white list (or friends list) if your list is not a double opt-in list they may not even receive your ezine as it could be blocked by their ISP.

Check with your emailing list service as to their policies on double opt-in.

Why do I need to send both Text and HTML versions of my newsletter?

Again sending both versions of your newsletter ensures that it will get through to your subscriber. Some subscribers have their email programs set up to only receive text emails, and if you only offer a HTML version of your ezine they are not going to be able to read it.
Also, if you’ve sent your broadcast in both versions there’s a good chance it won’t be viewed as spam/junk email as spammers don’t usually send emails in both formats.

Conclusion:
To fix low newsletter deliverability there are two things you can do right away:
1. Ensure your list is set to double opt-in.
2. Send out both Text and HTML versions of your ezine.

Categories
Recommendations

Wix Online Content Creator


Wix is an online application for creating, publishing and promoting stunning Web content in Flash. With Wix you don’t have to be a designer or programmer to create gorgeous Websites and embeddable Web objects. With Wix’s drag & drop interface you can easily add audio, video, images, text, animation, decoration and more.
Wix content can be published anywhere on the Web — on social networks, blogs, as stand-alones, etc. and is automatically updated in all destinations whenever you edit and save it. Furthermore, you can add tags to your Wix creations to make them search-engine friendly. A free Wix account allows you to have complete control of your web presence from one place.
It’s a pretty useful tool for content creation for entrepreneurs and small business owners who would like to take their business to the web. Try it at http://www.wix.com/small-business/
Update: First 100 users to sign up exclusively through GetEntrepreneurial.com will get to enjoy a free trial Wix.com account. Sign up here: http://www.wix.com/Welcome/GetEntrepreneurial

Categories
Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Home-Based Business Starting Up

Cash In Minus Cash Out Does Not Equal Profit

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You’ll pay too much in taxes if you don’t understand that cash in minus cash out does not equal profit.
This is the most important thing you need to know before you start keeping records for your business…cash in minus cash out does not equal profit. It simply equals cash left over. Or, in many cases, it’s a negative number, so it equals cash you owe somebody.
What this means is that you’ll need to understand the IRS rules and keep your records according to those rules so you report your profit correctly and take (and be able to prove) all the deductions you’re allowed to take. Because you want to pay the least amount of tax possible, right?
The way you’ll need to keep your books will be different depending on whether your business is a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation. The rules for calculating income and deductions (and therefore profit) and the forms used for reporting to the IRS are different for the different business types.
What counts as income? Most or all of the money you take into your business will count as income. This includes fees for services and/or product sales.
But not all the cash that comes into your business counts as income.
If you get a rebate for a purchase you made at your local office supply store, that’s cash in, but it’s not income. It’s a reduction in your supplies expense.
If you get a refund of part of your insurance premium at the end of the year, that’s cash in, but it’s not income. It’s a reduction in insurance expense.
If you borrow money (and it doesn’t matter if it’s from your brother or the bank), that’s cash in, but it doesn’t count as income.
What counts as expenses? Most of the money you spend for your business will probably count as expenses. This includes advertising, postage, office supplies, and similar items.
But not all the cash that goes out of your business counts as expenses.
When you buy business property like cars, computers, and furniture that will last longer than a year, you’re not allowed to deduct their entire cost as an expense in the year of purchase (except in special circumstances).
These items are called capital assets. Sometimes they’re referred to as fixed assets.
You have to depreciate them over several years. Basically, depreciation is a process of spreading the cost of an item over its useful life.
You might have cash of several hundred or thousands of dollars go out the door when you purchase fixed assets, but you can’t deduct the entire amount of the purchase price as an expense when you buy them.
Some things that your business pays for might only count as partial expenses. An example of that is business meals and entertainment where you can only deduct half of the cost.
That doesn’t mean that your business can’t pay for 100 % of the cost, but only that you’re limited in the amount of the tax deduction you can take. This is another example of cash out that doesn’t translate directly to expenses.
Some things your business pays for might not be tax deductible at all.
An example of this would be a contribution to a Political Action Committee. That doesn’t mean that the business can’t pay for it, just that it’s not a deductible expense on your tax return.
Some more examples of cash that goes out the door that doesn’t count as expenses are: draws for sole proprietors and distributions for partners or S corporation shareholders.
There’s also one type of expense that can be more than the amount of cash that the business actually spends. It’s the home office deduction that some sole proprietors can take.
So you see why it’s so important to understand that cash in minus cash out does not equal profit.
Unfortunately, the IRS rules and regulations don’t always make logical sense; they might seem complicated and unfair. One thing is certain. They are the way they are, so we have to deal with them. Learn what you can. And get help when you need it.

SherylSchuffPhoto.jpgSheryl Schuff, CPA, is a Certified Public Accountant, author, and consultant who teaches entrepreneurs how to get their businesses organized, keep good accounting records, and maximize their business tax deductions. She is President of Schuff & Associates, PC and has been in private practice for over 30 years. She recently started an information products company www.TaxesForSmallBusiness.com to provide individual training materials for small business owners.

Categories
Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship

Top 20 Entrepreneurs Mistakes

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Young Entrepreneur: After polling our Young Entrepreneur readers, here is our list of the top 20 mistakes that startups make when creating a new business. I’ve also included a few of the comments that were left for some of the top points.
#1: Not Having a Clear Plan or Vision
“The biggest mistake people make is not looking far enough ahead in your market. So many businesses are losing ground to new technologies as example, so think ahead on how to better utilize these new technologies. With the current recession, how many planned for it? Every business will go through cycles of growth and market demize, just as we are all now seeing, so again, think ahead, have vision beyond today is one of the keys to success.”
#2: Surrounding Yourself With People Who Don’t Believe In Your Idea
“Another mistake would be surrounding yourselves with people (whether by accident or because they’re family, etc) who don’t believe in your idea. You need to be around positive feedback all the time.”
#3: Not Having Enough Money
“I think this is big for those businesses that have the incentive to only reap the benefits and not focus on the longevity of your venture. Taking out $10k now may prevent making $100k in a few months. Mindsets should not be “Yeah I own a buiness I make this much” but rather “Yeah I own a business, we invested in XYZ and were able to afford this new service/expand here/etc” Also, too many people plan on the basic expenses of starting up, and don’t think about the increased expense that come with a more successful, growing, developing business.”
#4: Doing It All Alone
“Lots of CEO personalities think they have to be the answer to all problems, and this is not the case. Their pride and mindset of “I must live up to this role” is skewed and they may fail to tap the most important and valuable resources that surround them in their management team and affiliates.”
#5: Not Seeking Mentors
“I think having a mentor – a much more experienced entrepreneur that can give you some valuable advice is so IMPORTANT…especially when you are a young and overly ambitious… and with so many challenges to meet on the way to success.”
#6: Losing Momentum
“Being satisfied and content with functioning can lead to “big headedness” and false hope that it will always be this way. You need to constantly improve your product/service, research your around-the-clock changing market and competition, and promote innovation and forward progress amongst your management and team.”
#7: Not Marketing Your Business / Expecting People To Come To You
“A few mistakes that I personally made was the lack of focus on a targeted marketing plan, and the miscalculation on future expected growth.”
#8: Not Looking At Your Competition
“I think it is a big mistake to start a business without really understand the market.”
#9: Being Overly Enthusiastic and Not Having Realistic Goals
“A few mistakes that I personally made was the lack of focus on a targeted marketing plan, and the miscalculation on future expected growth.”

#10: Not Thinking Survival
“Too many people think that so long as everything is done “textbook” and they have the proper set up, and plans down on paper, that they will succeed. Also, many people have the idea that it is easy to keep it up after they get an initial consumer base. Not true. small businesses are small fish in a big pond, constantly competing against emerging and growing bigger competitors that have the backing, both monetarily and resourcefully, to push them out of the picture.”
The remaining 10 common startup mistakes are:
* Doing It Just For The Money
* Not hiring right away
* Getting to year 1, past year 2
* Not getting involved in the community
* Working in your business instead of on it
* Going wide instead of deep into a niche
* Not using email marketing
* Having a lack of ambition
* Failing to network with others
* Growing too quickly
The Top 20 Startup Mistakes – Entrepreneur Poll Results [Young Entrepreneur]

Categories
Entrepreneurship

When Your Business Fails

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BusinessPundit: With the current economic crisis, we are seeing businesses fail at a greater pace. Companies that have had past success records are downsizing at substantial rates, not to mention those that are completely closing their doors.
Large companies aren’t the only ones feeling the crunch of economic hardship. Small businesses are going out of business as well. On top of the challenge to survive the first two years of business, inflated costs of doing business are growing at rates never seen before.
The question then is, “What do you do when your business fails?” For many small businesses they started with someone’s savings, an investment fund, loans from friends and family just to get started. Now that’s gone, the reality of “shutting down shop” sinks in and the entrepreneur/small business owner is again with his idea and the thoughts of what could have been.
At some point you have to embrace the reality that it’s over and when that happens now what?
Focus on the Positive Things that Were Accomplished
It doesn’t matter how long you were in business every business has had bright days. It could have been new contacts and partnerships. Patients for products that you know can work. Systems that you developed and implemented. Perhaps, it was the day or week you reached records sales.
Ask The Hard Questions
Why did it fail? Was it poor planning? Was there lack of knowledge of the market? Did it come down to personnel? Maybe it was the wrong sales strategy. Whatever it was, as an entrepreneur asking the hard questions will help get away from the blame game and addresses the facts, both good and bad.
Learn and Move On!
Entrepreneurs can be extremely strong-willed individuals. It’s because of that they experience success and reach their goals. However, the one thing that separates them from others, is that the fail, learn and move on. Often times it’s in the same type of business and same product: just a new approach.
How to Cope When Your Business Fails [BusinessPundit]