Article Contributed by David Gruttadaurio
With everyone bombarded by email overload, do you really think your ezine is being read?
A Nielsen Norman Group Report revealed that the typical email newsletter gets 51 seconds of your reader’s time.
That was three years ago. Today, many say its closer to 26 seconds. And, that’s if your email newsletter is even opened.
You’re Not as Popular as You Think
While you believe YOUR ezines are special and opened like gifts on Christmas morning, remember this: Dozens of emails are routinely wiped out daily in one swoop with the push of the delete key.
Even if the reader recognizes your name, you can be expunged just because they’re having a busy day or your email got caught in a large block of spam.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you stop doing email newsletters. In fact, I advise you to do an email newsletter on a weekly basis. But, I also suggest doing a monthly print newsletter.
Here’s why…
6 Ways Print Newsletters Beat Email Newsletters – And Why They Need to Be Part of Your Marketing Mix
1. Printed mail gets delivered – It’s never blocked or caught in spam filters. Faulty connections, email authentication and webmail service idiosyncrasies are not issues. And, you have no worries about connection speeds.
2. Print newsletters have more perceived value – Think about it: How many companies are willing to do this? Your clients aren’t stupid. They understand the energy, cost and time required to send them a great newsletter every month. It will get their immediate attention.
3. Print newsletters let you use unlimited amount of images – A picture really is worth a thousand words. Print newsletters are not shackled by bandwidth. That means you can use a variety of text, graphics and formatting styles to capture the interest of your clients.
4. Print newsletter are sticky – Print newsletters have great ‘hang-time’. Not only are they likely to be read from start to finish, they usually get passed around. Hand-along readership can be as high as four-to-one. Talk about free marketing!
5. Print newsletters offer convenient and comfortable reading – Printed newsletters are much easier on the eyes. Reading articles of any length on a computer screen is uncomfortable and often inconvenient. Plus, a print newsletter allows you to mark sections you find interesting, take it to work and leave it there to be picked up by workmates.
6. Print newsletters stand out and get noticed – By using color, logos and a familiar return address, a print newsletter is easy to spot. With an inbox filled with subject lines, every message looks the same.
Here’s Your Best Bet
Make no mistake. There is a place for electronic communication with your customers. Websites and email are an important part of any business.
But the hands down best choice for keeping customers and getting more referrals and building relationships is to include print newsletters within your marketing mix
You can even offer your customers a choice. They will see that you really care about what they want, not just what you are willing to provide for them.
And that’s what relationship marketing is all about, isn’t it?
About the Author:
Print Newsletter Marketing Expert David Gruttadaurio was tired of wasting money on marketing that didn’t work. So he searched for a marketing tool that would give him more clients for his cleaning business. Then he found newsletter marketing! Through print newsletters he was able to triple his sales. Now, discover how he got and retained more clients with his FREE “Profit Exploding Newsletter Secrets Report” at http://www.NewslettersMadeForYou.com
Category: Operations
Very often solo business owners know they have a need to partner with a Virtual Assistant (VA), but are not really sure how a virtual assistant can help them grow their business – they don’t fully understand what services the VA provides. This is usually discussed during the client consultation process, but sometimes the client can still feel a little overwhelmed and are not sure about delegating their workload – in fact that is how one of my clients felt recently!
If you’ve not partnered with a Virtual Assistant yet, these tasks will make an ideal ‘first project’ for you to work together on. If you’re already working with a Virtual Assistant, have a planning session with her right away.
By letting go of these five tasks that you SHOULD be delegating ensures that you can free up your time and focus on your clients and income generating activities:
#1 Designing promotions
Need to send seasonal cards to your clients? Or maybe you have a special holiday promotion? A VA can help you here by designing custom cards, calendars, flyers, postcards, brochures, or any other promotional item.
#2 Organizing and maintaining your mailing list
Is your mailing list all together in one place? Or is it on bits of paper and business cards that you’ve collected over several months, or even years? Do you even have a mailing list? Your VA can help you here by setting up and maintaining a mailing list for you. She can maintain your list all year round so that you can send regular mailings and promotions to your clients.
#3 Sending out your promotion
So, now you have your custom-designed promotions, and your up-to-date mailing list, but do you have the time to send out your promotions? A VA can help you here by sending out your seasonal cards and promotions for you. Once you have your promotional literature and mailing list organised, then your VA can save you HOURS of time by sending them out on your behalf – via email or post.
#4 Planning your Event
Thinking of hosting a teleclass or workshop? Your VA can organize and plan that event for you–from sending out the invitations to collating the RSVPs, producing the literature, or booking the venue – with today’s technology all of this can be done online!
#5 Helping you plan your marketing campaigns
If you’re already thinking ahead, then your VA can assist you by helping you to organize your year-round marketing campaigns.
Your VA is your long-term partner in your business, and a person to hand over those time-draining projects to, giving you the time to focus on your business.
And they want your business to succeed just as much as you do!
http://www.getentrepreneurial.com/images/accounting.jpg
Article Contributed by Satish Patel
As an ex-CPA and now an entrepreneur managing several small to mid-sized business, I am still amazed at how small business owners from a non-accounting background get duped and fall into crisis due to improper bookkeeping and accounting practices. In a worst case scenario you can get embezzled by someone you trusted to handle your books, if you are not careful or your business might fall into dire straits due to improper management of business records.
Some of the most common mistakes which can bleed your business dry and should be avoided at all costs are:
1) Failing to seek professional help and trying to do it all yourself or worse seeking unqualified help from family or friends:
It can be understood that as a small business owner you are short on funds and might chaff under the idea of seeking professional help. You are probably thinking “my business is too small to hire professional help; I am sure I can manage this on my own” or “my wife/son/relative/friend has some experience in bookkeeping and can manage this for me”.
A big mistake you might not realize immediately! If you are trying to do everything for your business from taking care of day to day operations, to selling and marketing and also handling your own books despite not being qualified to do so, will create serious consequences. Multi-tasking in this manner takes you away your focus from core business. Eventually as you become more and more busy, the company hits rock bottom. How can you sincerely justify the amount of time you spend on doing tasks such as bookkeeping which can be outsourced at much cheaper rates? Your time is precious and should be spent on direct revenue generation activities. Moreover if you are not qualified to handle book in proper consistent manner, you are doing more harm than good for your business. The same rule applies when hiring a friend, neighbor or relative. Before you financial record gets too sloppy and messed up, you need to get professional help in place. Bookkeeping and accounting is too important to experiment and play around with.
2) Failing to use logical accounting structure and systems in place:
Use a proper accounting system to keep track of your payments and receipts. Issue all your checks in the correct sequence and do the same with sales receipts. This will make it easy for you – and the IRS, if necessary, to track all your accounting data.
Do not maintain your accounts in such a way that the IRS will have doubts about your business. The IRS will be much happier if you have maintained your accounts in such a way that your entries can be traced right to the source.
This is easier said than done. You need to become aware of the proper accounting chart/structure for your business type. For example don’t classify expenses basis vendor names, the list might get overly long and exhaustive, instead use types of expenses like telephone charges, electricity charges, fuel costs, employee costs etc. You cannot store all bills in disarray in a shoe box and pray for divine intervention. If you are not familiar with your industry specific chart of accounts, your best bet is to contact an accounting or bookkeeping professional who can help you out. They will help you answer the following questions: Is your chart of accounts structured to your business? Do you know your breakeven point? Can you distinguish between your direct variable costs and fixed overhead costs? Developing a well-structured chart of accounts is the first step toward providing you with such answers to elemental business questions.
3) Failure to use separate credit cards for business and personal expenses.
Use one set of credit cards for business-related expenses, such as those related to travel and purchases – and another set to make personal purchases such as eating out with your family. That way, you can check your credit card statements easily and file those related to your business in your office files.
Set up separate bank accounts in the same way. Issue checks related to your business only from your business account and make all personal payments from your personal account. Follow this system strictly to avoid any confusion come tax time. Also do not forget to prepare a bank reconciliation statement and cross check all your entries.
4) Failure to maintain consistent and regular filing system:
Another major mistake indulged by small business owners is not maintaining regular and systematic filing system. A proper filing system should be broken by receivables, payables, bank statements and tax records. Depending upon your business needs, you might also want to keep a set of file folders by job. A good file system works in tandem with your written policies and procedures. Your policies should state where records are filed, how many copies there are and for how long they are stored.
At year-end closing, the year’s non-permanent files should be bound together and archived in a safe location (usually a metal fire-proof cabinet or stored off-site). Keeping multiple years’ worth of receipts together in one file drawer leads to wasted time filing and retrieving records.
In addition annual archiving helps tremendously in the event of an audit or even a lawsuit.
5) Failing to use proper technological help:
There is an old saying “Time is Money”. Bearing this in mind small business owners need to get techno savvy and study the various software packages available that can do loads of tedious bookkeeping and accounting tasks in a jiffy. The benefits from selecting a right accounting software for you business includes:
· Generate reports and bank reconciliation statement saving overdraw expenses
· Get on demand customized reports
· Simple to prepare year-end tax note
· Automatic reminders on payments and receipts
· Automatic downloads on payroll, credit card and bank statements
Still it is shocking how many businesses do not enjoy the benefits of such software and still try to do bookkeeping manually in a disorganized manner. If you are unsure of which software will help you most, seek help from professionals. They will definitely council you to make the right choice.
6) Failing to have regular back-up systems in place:
Next costly mistake to avoid is not having a back-up system in place. Honestly there is no excuse for not having proper and regularized back-up of your online bookkeeping and accounting systems.
7) Failing to prepare proper bookkeeping procedures and accounting guidelines to be followed:
This is perhaps the most important task a small business owner MUST undertake but usually avoid. They feel they don’t have the time to frame written bookkeeping and accounting procedures and there business set up is too informal for such rules and regulations to be established. Trust me; this can really land your business in hot waters. How can there be accountability and responsibilities if the correct wireframe of policies and procedures are not in place? Proper accounting policies and procedures ensure consistency and eliminate confusion when processing transactions especially when in future you have more employees handling the same tasks and sharing jobs and responsibilities. This eliminates mistakes and fraud. Take time to draft well thought out procedures which help maintain checks and balances. Your policies should cover all future possibilities to make it effective with room for modifications and improvement as per increasing complexity of growing and evolving business.
If you use these tips, you will avoid the pitfalls that many small business owners fall into in the maintenance of their records. When it comes to bookkeeping and accounting, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
About Author:
Satish Patel is the President of Analtyix Solutions (www.analytixsolutions.com) which is a fast growing back-office service company providing web-based bookkeeping and accounting, tax preparation and part-time CFO services. Patel has a degree in International Management from MS University in Baroda, India and a degree in Accounting from California State University at Fullerton, USA. He has 20 years practical experience as an entrepreneur, managing several small to mid-sized businesses has made him an expert in day to day operations, human resource, technology, marketing, financial and strategic management.
Accounting Software Strengths
Easy to use by non accountants requiring no previous Accounting knowledge and is basically a list of sales and a list of purchases on preset excel spreadsheets. Each workbook is arranged as 12 monthly spreadsheets with preset columns and uses an entry code letter to analyse both sales and expenditure.
Cash and bank spreadsheets are included as optional extras for those businesses that require them with a built in automated bank reconciliation. The sheet is designed to be completed by copying the figures from the bank statement into the bank spreadsheet and the bank reconciliation is achieved by also entering the statement total which is automatically checked against the entries made.
Monthly profit and loss account also includes a financial health check based upon an automated tax forecast to enable businesses to monitor their financial performance. By entering drawings the package then compares the net profit made with the likely tax liability plus the drawings.
Quarterly vat returns are generated for vat registered business and is also suitable for non vat registered business. To produce a vat return clients simply go to the vat file and select the quarter end date from a drop down menu and the figures for the vat return are automatically generated.
The vat calculations can be disabled by non vat registered small businesses by simply changing the standard vat rate from 17.5 to zero making the accounting software suitable for both vat registered and non vat registered businesses.
The accounting package includes a stand alone sales invoice generator which requires invoices generated to be manually input into the sales sheet.
The fixed asset schedule is preset with the capital allowance tax rates to automatically calculate capital allowances when fixed assets are entered. Depreciation is also automatically calculated with preset percentages that can be changed as required.
A major benefit of using this small business bookkeeping software is the templates are arranged in such a way to automatically generate an excel copy of the self assessment tax return. The excel self assessment tax return is arranged in the same layout as the official inland revenue form with the same box numbers making it easy to copy the figures from one to the other for submission.
Accounting Software Weaknesses
The Self-employed Accounting Software UK is based upon single entry of transactions and does not produce a balance sheet which is an optional requirement for self employed and therefore not a problem for the vast majority of businesses. DIY Accounting actually recommend clients who are self employed and wish to produce a balance sheet to use their Limited Company accounts package which does produce a balance sheet being based not on single entry but on double entry principles. The small business accounting software is suitable for a single tax year, the latest being 2007-08 and does not cater for accounting periods other than April to April. There are benefits in anyone self employed adopting the standard April to April financial year as this avoids tax allowances from two separate years being a feature of the accounts. When used by small businesses using the cash accounting system the bookkeeping entries to the sales and purchase sheets must be entered according to the dates money is paid or received rather than the dates invoices were issued. At the end of the financial year any invoices not yet entered require to be listed to adjust the final profit and loss account figures. This a major disadvantage if using the vat cash accounting scheme rather than the Accounting Software being reviewed.
Very Low Priced
At £12.99 the accounting software is basically available for loose change and will save many businesses the need to employ an accountant potentially saving hundreds of pounds in professional fees. For the financial year 2008-09 the basic package for non vat registered business is available at just £11.99 and the standard accounting software for vat registered small business is £12.99.
Other Features
The product has a stock control feature to monitor any stock losses. The small business accounting software contains a wages interface that fully integrates the DIY Accounting Payroll Software when those files are saved into the same folder as the accounting software files. Being written on excel spreadsheets all transactions are visible and capable of being changed by for example overwriting any errors as opposed to a database system that requires new transactions to be entered to reverse previous entries. The sales and purchase spreadsheets include columns for entering CIS tax deductions and payments and the certificate numbers. The CIS tax being then automatically entered on the self assessment tax return. As the small business accounting software is written on excel spreadsheets then it is essential that users have a version of excel from 1998 onwards installed to use the program. The accounting software also works fine with an Open Source spreadsheet package.
Conclusion: to Buy or not to Buy
Exceptionally good value, very easy to use and produces exactly what every small business requires, automated accounts requiring no bookkeeping skills and no previous accounting experience with the valuable end product of a fully automated self assessment tax return.
Terry Cartwright qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and Chartered Company Secretary in 1971. A successful business career followed as Head of Finance for major companies in the UK and several consultancy appointments. In 2006 he created DIY Accounting producing Accounting Software for self employed and small companies that use simple accounts spreadsheets to automate tax returns.
Running a payroll for larger organisations with full time accounting staff is easy. Full time professionals are employed or the payroll function may be outsourced to a payroll bureau. For the small business the payroll task often falls to the proprietor demanding even more time to familiarise with current payroll legislation and a not insignificant amount of administration time that could be better spent making profits than number crunching. For small business organisations with five to ten employees calculating the income tax and national insurance contributions in producing the weekly payroll can easily take an hour or more each week. An hour that could be better spent earning profits or at the very least having an extra hour of free time each week. Free time that every small business owner value at a premium since the majority of small business owners either work or think about work from dawn to dusk 7 days a week. A payroll software package to satisfy the PAYE requirements can be just one part of making that small business more efficient.
Small businesses that fail to operate a sound payroll system can produce a negative effect on the employees. The pay an employee receives is expected, often spent or spoken for on receipt and provided the amount is a competitive rate would only rarely have an effect on staff relations. However operating a Payroll system that does not provide each employee with a payslip is like telling your employee he has received a personal letter that was opened for him and discarded as not important. To the employee a payslip is very important. And so important in that every employer has a legal responsibility to provide each employee with a payslip and at the end of each year a P60 End of Year Employees Certificate. A Payroll Software package will satisfy both the legal requirement and the employee requirements. Failure to provide employees with payslips can only reduce the respect hat employee has for his employer. Every employee must receive a payslip that shows the amount of income tax and national insurance deducted from the gross pay. Every employer must also calculate the employer national insurance contribution. Employers not using a payroll software package such as available from DIY Accounting Payroll Software must design their own payslip to give to employees to satisfy legal requirements.
In the UK producing a weekly or monthly payroll can be a burdensome task to comply with the HMCE requirements. HMCE provide much expertise advice in this area both via their website and each year through the distribution of the Employers CD-Rom. To fully appreciate all the technicalities and complete all the correct documents such as the P11 Deductions Working sheet is time consuming. It does not have to be a problem. Payroll Software can automate this knowledge and functions and is available at insignificant cost. The DIY Accounting Payroll Software package is available for five to twenty employees at a cost of 15 to 25 pounds. That is a payroll software package that could save a small business over an hour a week, for twenty employees more like two hours, for less than 50p per week. All small business owners should at least consider suitable efficient payroll software.
Many payroll software packages are written using databases and can put many small business owners off using them due to both the cost and the fear of the unknown complexity of using such a payroll package. Many payroll software packages written on a database provide an excellent solution but have a tendency to be extremely politically correct and cover all potential rules and regulations and consequently become more complex to operate as they can demand at least a minimum knowledge of the payroll system. There are other PAYE solutions. The DIY Accounting Payroll Software is written on excel spreadsheets requiring no payroll experience and a minimum of entries to produce all the essential calculations of income tax and employees and employers national insurance. In addition excel copies of the time consuming P11 Deductions working sheet, P60 Employees Certificate and the P35 Annual Employers Return are all automated to save the small business valuable administration time.
A significant advantage of a payroll software system written on excel is that it can also be used with an open office spreadsheet package but not least all the entries are visible and therefore transparent. Errors and mistakes can be easily corrected simply by changing the numbers on the payroll ensuring the payroll is produced both quickly and accurately. Payroll Software is an effective tool that should receive serious consideration by all small business proprietors.
Payroll Software also has the advantage because it can be simple and fast to use of avoiding late payments to the revenue and the consequent unwanted letters and potential fines this can invoke. By having all the information required for the monthly or quarterly revenue payments late penalties can be avoided and by producing the Annual Employers return on time small business owners can submit their returns online and receive a tax free online filing bonus. The current online foiling bonus being 150 pounds and substantially more than the payroll software might have cost.
Terry Cartwright qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and Chartered Company Secretary in 1971. A successful business career followed as Head of Finance for major companies in the UK and several consultancy appointments. In 2006 he created DIY Accounting producing Accounting Software for self employed and small companies that use simple accounts spreadsheets to automate tax returns.