Digg it UP - Business

Cash Flow Planning for Solo Entrepreneurs
You’ve heard it a million times – cash flow can make or break a business. Lack of cash flow planning is the reason why many businesses fail. In fact, many PROFITABLE businesses fail because of cash flow issues. Without adequate cash flow, you can’t pay your bills and you can’t make plans for your business.So… what is cash flow planning? Cash flow planning is projecting your future cash inflows from sales, services, and loans, and comparing them to your future cash flow needs (suppliers, salaries/wages, loan payments, taxes, etc.). The difference between the two is your net cash flow.Why is cash flow planning so important? Cash fl

in the marketing and nonprofit marketing arena, so that I can keep up, and join the conversation with a comment when it makes sense.

• Email mailing lists that enable any self-defined group of individuals to discuss your organization, and to post this conversation online. Our block (Owen Drive) has an active mailing list where neighbors talk fast and furious on everything from school board elections to the forced eviction of old-time small businesses at the local strip mall.

Participatory Communities – Think Idealist.Org, TechSoup, Nonprofit Blog Exchange...

Broadband networks, wireless access and new online- publishing tools all contribute to the emergence of audience-

How to Save Money by Making Your Own Sign
In the sign industry we commonly refer to the material that the sign is made out of as the substrate. Examples include, wood, vinyl banners, aluminum, coroplast, etc. But what many customers do not realize is that they can purchase vinyl lettering or vinyl decals and apply them directly to typical substrates themselves. Translation – saving money by buying blank substrates inexpensively at local hardware stores such as Home Depot and Lowes and avoiding the prices sign companies need to charge to apply the material. Although you do pay tax by buying locally on the substrate, you can save tax on the vinyl by ordering over the internet.What

What happens when control of your nonprofit's message (frankly, always an illusion) passes from your organization, and the traditional media, to your audiences? Well you better figure it out quick, because it's happening right now.

Every nonprofit I know has centered its communications strategy around a brand (whether defined as such, or not), expressed through a graphic identity and a narrative one -- positioning and key messages. We've trained our leaders and staff members to keep on message, and ensured that our print and online content does so as well.

That's the right way to start. But it's only a start -- now more than ever.

The shift is all about decentralization. In the past, your audiences have gathered their news from you (via direct communications) and the media (your conduit). Not that message control was completely in your hands. Journalists and letters to the editor often reframe, or even dispute, your messages. But that could be addressed, as long as you tracked (and responded to) coverage.

Now these approaches are being superceded by what's happening at the edges of increasingly ubiquitous networks. As your audiences combine powerful online tools and innovative "social networking" approaches (peer-to-peer information sharing), they create online content on your nonprofit and its programs. While the audiences for this content are still relatively small, it is likely they will become mainstream. For many 18-30 year olds, they already are.

Two Key Alternative Info Sources

Here are the two core genres of alternative news and information sites that have evolved outside of traditional media, and, in many cases are driven by a self-defined community.

Aggregators: • Sites such as Google News and Huffington Post are aggregating news produced by nonprofits and traditional media, and repackaging it by topic or point of view.

• Alert services such as Google and Yahoo Alerts deliver links to online content on user-defined words and phrases, directly to users' email boxes.

I have Alerts set up on the following words and phrases:

Nancy E. Schwartz

nonprofit communications

nonprofit marketing

Getting Attention

Nancy Schwartz & Company

I use this input to shape blog and e-news content, track coverage of Nancy Schwartz & Company and Getting Attention, and see what's going on in the world of nonprofit (and broader) marketing. And I respond (via a comment to a blog post or an email to an e-news editor) when it makes sense to share my point of view or correction.

• Blog readers (I use Bloglines) that allow your audiences to easily aggregate content from a variety of sources (but mostly blogs at this point).

I use Bloglines to track bloggers who write in the marketing and nonprofit marketing arena, so that I can keep up, and join the conversation with a comment when it makes sense.

Participatory Communities – Think Idealist.Org, TechSoup, Nonprofit Blog Exchange...

Broadband networks, wireless access and new online- publishing tools all contribute to the emergence of audience-

Successful Telecommuting Mom Story Number 2
Melody Spier started looking at telecommuting as an option back in 2000 but felt at the time that she could not financially quit her job.Tired of working long hours and coming home so exhausted at the end of each day that she could hardly enjoy our family time, Melody felt like her husband, neighbors and friends were raising her children while she worked.After two years of working up the courage, she dropped her day job and became a full-time stay at home mom in 2002. From there she connected with a website that provided legitimate telecommuting information and a community of people who shared their knowledge and resources willingl

audiences have gathered their news from you (via direct communications) and the media (your conduit). Not that message control was completely in your hands. Journalists and letters to the editor often reframe, or even dispute, your messages. But that could be addressed, as long as you tracked (and responded to) coverage.

Two Key Alternative Info Sources

Here are the two core genres of alternative news and information sites that have evolved outside of traditional media, and, in many cases are driven by a self-defined community.

Aggregators: • Sites such as Google News and Huffington Post are aggregating news produced by nonprofits and traditional media, and repackaging it by topic or point of view.

• Alert services such as Google and Yahoo Alerts deliver links to online content on user-defined words and phrases, directly to users' email boxes.

I have Alerts set up on the following words and phrases:

Nancy E. Schwartz

nonprofit communications

nonprofit marketing

Getting Attention

Nancy Schwartz & Company

• Blog readers (I use Bloglines) that allow your audiences to easily aggregate content from a variety of sources (but mostly blogs at this point).

I use Bloglines to track bloggers who write in the marketing and nonprofit marketing arena, so that I can keep up, and join the conversation with a comment when it makes sense.

Participatory Communities – Think Idealist.Org, TechSoup, Nonprofit Blog Exchange...

Broadband networks, wireless access and new online- publishing tools all contribute to the emergence of audience-

No News is Bad News!
Many companies treat customer service as a necessary evil, an afterthought, only needed if mistakes and problems arise. This viewpoint is best reflected in the antiquated mindset: ‘No news is good news!’When it comes to customers, that’s bad news! Here’s why:If you have a customer who is happy and you do not give them a chance to tell you, you lose one of the strongest opportunities to increase customer loyalty. The need to be internally consistent is a driving force in shaping future behavior. In other words, if customers tell you how and why they are happy, they are very likely to repeat the behavior that caused them such satisfactio

will become mainstream. For many 18-30 year olds, they already are.

Two Key Alternative Info Sources

Here are the two core genres of alternative news and information sites that have evolved outside of traditional media, and, in many cases are driven by a self-defined community.

Aggregators: • Sites such as Google News and Huffington Post are aggregating news produced by nonprofits and traditional media, and repackaging it by topic or point of view.

• Alert services such as Google and Yahoo Alerts deliver links to online content on user-defined words and phrases, directly to users' email boxes.

I have Alerts set up on the following words and phrases:

Nancy E. Schwartz

nonprofit communications

nonprofit marketing

Getting Attention

Nancy Schwartz & Company

• Blog readers (I use Bloglines) that allow your audiences to easily aggregate content from a variety of sources (but mostly blogs at this point).

I use Bloglines to track bloggers who write in the marketing and nonprofit marketing arena, so that I can keep up, and join the conversation with a comment when it makes sense.

Participatory Communities – Think Idealist.Org, TechSoup, Nonprofit Blog Exchange...

Broadband networks, wireless access and new online- publishing tools all contribute to the emergence of audience-

Are You a Freight Broker? How Factoring Your Freight Bills can Help Your Cash Flow
Running a freight brokerage can be very profitable. Although being a freight broker can be very rewarding, financially speaking, it can also be very challenging. Especially since drivers depend on you to pay them quickly. And many times, your clients make you wait 30 to 60 days before they pay you.So you have a challenge. Your drivers want to get paid quickly but your clients want to pay slowly. The math doesn’t work. Unless you have a nice cash cushion in the bank, paying your drivers will be a problem. And trying to get bank financing will get you nowhere. Banks always provide financing based on your past history. What if you are a new or e

and phrases:

Nancy E. Schwartz

nonprofit communications

nonprofit marketing

Getting Attention

Nancy Schwartz & Company

• Blog readers (I use Bloglines) that allow your audiences to easily aggregate content from a variety of sources (but mostly blogs at this point).

I use Bloglines to track bloggers who write in the marketing and nonprofit marketing arena, so that I can keep up, and join the conversation with a comment when it makes sense.

Participatory Communities – Think Idealist.Org, TechSoup, Nonprofit Blog Exchange...

Broadband networks, wireless access and new online- publishing tools all contribute to the emergence of audience-

Pet Adoption Fundraising Ideas
If considering ways to help out not-for-profits in the community that do so much good for others consider being involved in fundraising. Agencies such as those who deal with the homeless, the elderly, helping at-risk youth, agencies that help disaster victims often run on a shoestring budget and are in need of financial support.Also, agencies that help a segment of the community, but are often overlooked are shelters for animals. These shelters often provide food, medical assistance and immunizations for those animals who are lost or who have been abandoned.If looking to financially help pet shelters there are a number of pet adoption

in the marketing and nonprofit marketing arena, so that I can keep up, and join the conversation with a comment when it makes sense.

Participatory Communities – Think Idealist.Org, TechSoup, Nonprofit Blog Exchange...

Broadband networks, wireless access and new online- publishing tools all contribute to the emergence of audience-generated news, information and opinion. Blogs and message boards are the most visible form right now, serving to connect folks with common interests and sometimes perspectives. Email and IM (instant messaging) also accelerate audience-to-audience information flow.

Picture:

• A program participant blogging about the strong facilitator, or the sloppy handouts.

• A frustrated online advocate complaining about the glitch in your nonprofit's system that prevented him from easily registering his protest on your key issue of the moment.

• A satisfied donor with the information she receives about your nonprofit's new programs, and related use of recent gifts, shares that information on a community bulletin board.

What's happened is that audiences -- starting with teens through 30s -- have become dissatisfied with traditional media and are becoming more active participants in the exchange of news and ideas. So the dissemination model of marketing and communications is transformed to conversation.

Why Your Nonprofit Should Care

Very simply…

1. Your audiences are now participating in shaping the way your nonprofit is perceived via joining in blog and message board conversations, among others.

2. Their content may be viewed as being just as valid as yours is, and is just as easily found via online search engines and links.

3. As a result, your nonprofit has less control than ever before -- on how the organization is perceived.

4. Your communications model has to change.

What You Should Do About It

Lots. Scan. Listen. Participate.

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.diggitup.net/article/27129/diggitup-Everybodys-Talking-About-You--Why-Your-Nonprofit-Needs-to-Listen-and-Listen-Hard.html">Everybody's Talking About You - Why Your Nonprofit Needs to Listen, and Listen Hard</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.diggitup.net/article/27129/diggitup-Everybodys-Talking-About-You--Why-Your-Nonprofit-Needs-to-Listen-and-Listen-Hard.html]Everybody's Talking About You - Why Your Nonprofit Needs to Listen, and Listen Hard[/url]

It's essential to have a thorough understanding of medical terminology and the proper spelling of these terms. The reason is simple, accuracy is essential in any transcription and because time is money in this profession and because you are paid by the amount of work you can produce, if you're struggling with every other word you won't get much done.

A career in sales can be extremely exciting and rewarding. But since sales is a highly competitive field, it's not for everyone. Answer these 10 questions to find out if a career in sales is right for you.

Why, exactly, do you want to go into business for yourself? Is it because you cannot stand the thought of working for an uptight, demanding, and perfectly dreadful boss? Is it because you cannot...

Tags

Links

Digg it UP - Everybody's Talking About You - Why Your Nonprofit Needs to Listen, and Listen Hard

Related Articles: