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Business Security
This article examines business security and provides some practical advise on protecting your business. Unfortunately as any new business knows it isn't long before opening that the first break and enter occurs or another security issue raises it ugly head. Dealing with insurance companies reveals that often the business person is own their own, particularly if the business is targetted numerous times. The more successful your business, the more interest it tends to generate amongst low lifes, and once they have struck they will be back again unless you do something about it.In order to protect your business one of the first things you need to do is establish safe cash flow practises. This includes the basics like not leaving out large quantities of cash in tills or petty cash, ensuring you have a descent safe and/or strongroom. However it goes much further than this. Ensuring correct cashflow includes correct recording procedures with regular audits. Often one of biggest hits a company takes is when its own employee steals from the cashflow. Without tight auditing procedures an employee can easily rake up $1000's of dollars in fraud and the chance of you or your company seeing that money again is limited. Know your staff and managers, particularly avoid like the plague anyone with a drug or gambling problem. A quality camera system not only protects your staff, it also protects you, letting

iring only minor adjustments in display settings.

Though actual photos and even motion film or video clips can be embedded in Flash, its true capabilities shine in the animation mode. With a capable and creative designer, Flash can be a very entertaining and effective tool. It can instantly be embed in the mind of the viewer, a core concept that would otherwise take far more time and explanation.

The key is to tell an engaging story with your Flash animation. Start by identifying with your audience and encountering the problem in the way they would. Instead of simply showing a demonstration, try creating a unique character with a personality that is consistent with your brand promise or typifies your customer. Or personify inanimate objects. Build the storyline with a problem/solution orientation. Like any other marketing project, do your homework so your presentation is credible.

Here are a few tips for Flash use:

A 90-second Flash introduction to a sales presentation can standardize the way your story is told (solution story versus product features) and allow your sales reps to get to the negotiation stage faster. It is a good idea to build control buttons into the sales and web versions of the presentation to allow reps and visitors to p

Research Buying Tips
In some cases, such as reviewing the Yellow Pages to determine the level of competition for a specific geographic area, marketing research can easily be accomplished by small business owners themselves. However, as the research becomes more complicated, the small businessperson may wish to turn to an expert in the field. Numerous research firms exist throughout the U.S. Some conduct millions of dollars of research each month, such as A.C. Nielsen and its monitoring of television audiences. Others are smaller, independent firms that serve specific geographic areas. Although marketing research can be considered a bargain, especially if the results of a study greatly increase revenues or cut costs, good marketing research is not cheap. Marketing researchers are trained, experienced professionals, not unlike attorneys or architects. Accordingly, the first-time research buyer may be startled by the prices for research services. For example, focus groups run about $3,000 each, and a telephone survey could range anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 or more, depending on the number of interviews and length of the questionnaire. Because costs of this size represent a substantial investment for most small businesses, owners should ask themselves the following questions before ever contacting a research firm: 1. Is the research really necessa

7 Qualities Of A Strong Brand:

1. Commands premium pricing while retaining loyalty

2. Shortens the sales cycle

3. Deflects competition

4. Resists commoditization

5. Establishes top of mind awareness (mindshare)

6. Generates referral “word of mouth” momentum

7. Meets and exceeds shareholder expectations

If you are lacking some of these qualities read on to learn how you can strengthen your brand!

Putting Your Message In Motion…

" Persuasion is the centerpiece of business activity," writes Robert McKee, Screenwriting Coach, in a June 2003 Harvard Business Review article on storytelling. "…If you can harness imagination and the principles of a well-told story, then you get people rising to their feet amid thunderous applause instead of yawning and ignoring you."

You tend to listen to a guy who has taught people how to spin yarns like The Color Purple, Forrest Gump and Sleepless in Seattle. Though in this article McKee was referring to executives' effective storytelling to inspire their various stakeholders, the same principles resonate through a company's brand communications. First you've got to capture your prospects' imaginations and make them believe your story. Only then are you within reach of branding a customer and opening a new revenue stream. Multimedia makes this goal a lot easier to reach.

The term "multimedia" encompasses any medium that relies on more than one of the human senses to communicate. For example, print ads use only sight (except for "scratch 'n sniff). Radio uses only sound. By contrast, web movies, television and cinema use sight and sound together for a more effective presentation. So though technically multimedia has been around for a long time, today the reference is chiefly reserved for digital presentations with motion, visuals and sound.

Study after study proves that the more senses involved in telling your story (sight, sound, touch, etc.), the more effective it becomes. The greatest advantage of multimedia for B2B marketers isn't really the media itself, but the channels now available to distribute it to niche audiences with surgical precision. DVD and the web, search engines and email provide the perfect mix of vehicles to drive a highly targeted stream of people to hear and see their stories. So in this age of digital information, it's no wonder that marketers are rushing to use this highly targeted storytelling medium.

MicroSoft PowerPoint

This is a simple multimedia-capable tool. The next step up from a photo slide show, PowerPoint has become the most popular multimedia program in distribution today. PowerPoint's elementary animation of typography and images richens the cracker-dry corporate slide presentation of the past and brings the entire presentation process in-house, relegating it to administrative assistants instead of outsourced creative specialists.

The problem we've seen with PowerPoint is that it is so easy to use that companies allow people untrained in even basic storytelling, graphics or their specific corporate brand standards to create these presentations. This does more to undermine the integrity of a consistent brand image than anything else we've seen. Everyone wants to add their "creative touches" to the PowerPoint presentation, and before you know it, a conservative-minded company can look like Disneyland at the board of directors meeting.

And since PowerPoint contains libraries of backgrounds, effects and color palettes for all to use, it is easy to develop presentations with a "canned" flavor, defeating the objective of brand differentiation. The use of these common library images and elements also increases the chances of your presentation taking on the same look and feel of one of your competitors.

The solution? A unique, yet standardized template based on corporate brand identity standards should be issued to a select group of managers whose departments regularly create presentations. Each completed presentation should be reviewed for adherence to standards prior to use in the field, or even internally. Creating a brand review committee will help immensely, even if it is an ad hoc, part-time or outsourced function.

Flash by Macromedia

This is an animation software tool well suited for telling conceptual stories where motion is important to express the concept, but actual cinematic media (motion film) is not the answer (for either expressive or budgetary reasons). This might work well in the case of demonstrating the principal of a machine's operation, of which many parts are not visible.

Flash is a vector (as opposed to a raster) digital format. Vector programs like Flash and Adobe Illustrator hold quality as they rescale in size or dimension, take up far smaller amounts of disk space and download faster on the web.

Flash is built for flexibility in resolution and aspect ratios. The same presentation can be used on a laptop computer for a sales presentation as well as a 60" letterbox plasma screen at a trade show with the same high quality results requiring only minor adjustments in display settings.

Here are a few tips for Flash use:

Things To Consider While Incorporating In Hawaii
Incorporating can be one of the best decisions as it offers many benefits that make it a very attractive option for those starting a new venture. Incorporation procedure complexities can daunt some people but are well worth the trouble. The Internet has made it possible for novices to understand all procedures connected with incorporation, and they can themselves incorporate or hire an attorney to help them incorporate.How to Incorporate In Hawaii: It is necessary to be clear about the legal structure that best suits your business such as a C, S, Closed, Professional, or Non-Profit corporation. Devising a name that is original and not a replicate of any other registered business name or reserved names is the next step for incorporating a business. The name has to comply with the state laws and has to end in the words or the abbreviation of the words “Incorporated,” “Corporation,” or “Limited.” There has to be a minimum of one or more incorporators, and they have to file the articles of incorporation with the Hawaii Department of Commerce, Business Registration Division. The fee charged is $50, and it will be processed within 25 business days. The article of incorporation has to include other documents such as those listing the mailing address of its principal executive office, street address of its registered office, name of its registered agent at

anding a customer and opening a new revenue stream. Multimedia makes this goal a lot easier to reach.

MicroSoft PowerPoint

Flash by Macromedia

Here are a few tips for Flash use:

Postage Meters
A postage meter is a definite asset to any enterprise for the routine dispatch of mail. It is a professional, convenient, cost-effective and time-saving piece of machinery. The primary issues to be considered before deciding on the purchase of a postage meter are the monthly mailing expenses, the average and the maximum pieces of mail dispatched, and the type of postages handled, whether it is confined to standard letters or packages of different weights.The vital piece of the equipment that prints the indicia on the mail or the package is the meter. Meters can never be purchased; they can only be leased from companies authorized by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Some meters are password protected, while others vary with respect to accounting codes, automatic postage reset, date advance, and the denomination capacity. Some may also be preset for common mailing jobs. Digital meters with increased security options print a two-dimensional barcode. These are the most expensive but best preferred since they allow the user to electronically obtain the changing USPS rates.The feeder, sealer, stacker, and the tape dispenser units of the base transport the mail or the package through the meter. Unlike the meter, these components can be purchased for varied prices depending upon the speed and the type of mail-handling capacity. A feeder-less meter is quite functional, however it is ted

m a photo slide show, PowerPoint has become the most popular multimedia program in distribution today. PowerPoint's elementary animation of typography and images richens the cracker-dry corporate slide presentation of the past and brings the entire presentation process in-house, relegating it to administrative assistants instead of outsourced creative specialists.

Flash by Macromedia

Here are a few tips for Flash use:

Is it Time for a Career Change?
Are you finding yourself smack-dab in the middle of a corporate downsizing? Are you fed up with your current job and just want to try something different? Or have you simply decided to get involved in an industry that really excites you?Whatever the case, there is a tool you've got to use to be successful in your transition. It's called a Career Change Resume. This is a little understood but very powerful tool in the job search arena. Done correctly the Career Change Resume opens doors and gets you in at a higher level (meaning higher pay) than a regular resume.The trick is convincing employers to give you a shot at the new job and not start you out on the bottom rung! The secret is being able to show the employer that even though you are new to the industry, you have valuable skills and abilities that will benefit him and his business.The biggest mistake I see people make is using the same old resumes in applying for new jobs.Those Resumes won't work! The next biggest mistake is to write a resume that makes them appear to be completely new to the work-place, a resume that doesn't even show one ounce of applicable, valuable skill. That type of resume simply screams entry level pay-scale.Here is a drill, take a good hard look at what skills and abilities you already possess. Are these skills and abilities valuable to a new employer, even in a ne

ique, yet standardized template based on corporate brand identity standards should be issued to a select group of managers whose departments regularly create presentations. Each completed presentation should be reviewed for adherence to standards prior to use in the field, or even internally. Creating a brand review committee will help immensely, even if it is an ad hoc, part-time or outsourced function.

Flash by Macromedia

Here are a few tips for Flash use:

Finding Comfortable Office Chairs and Furniture
Comfortable office furniture are necessary for offering seating to customers and clients who must wait for service or for a scheduled appointment. In addition, quality office desk chairs are necessary for maintaining employee comfort and morale.Office desk chairs can be found in every individual office or cubicle. A comfortable, ergonomic office desk chair is essential for employee satisfaction and a high level of office productivity. Many employees sit for as long as eight hours each workday, with only occasional short breaks. It is important to take preventative measures to prevent injury and to alleviate the stress that is placed on the back from sitting for a prolonged amount of time. For this reason, it is important that office desk chairs offer excellent lumbar support and aid in maintaining proper sitting posture while working.When purchasing an office desk chair, there are a wide variety of special features available that help to support the lower spine while allowing the user to sit comfortably. Ergonomic office chairs offer adjustable backrests, cushioned arm rests, thick cushioned seating, and lumbar support. Adjustment mechanisms allow the chair to be customized to fit individual body types. It is important to understand how the mechanisms work and to know the proper settings for one’s body. Office desk chairs with defective adjustment mechanisms should be replace

iring only minor adjustments in display settings.

Here are a few tips for Flash use:

On the web, don't use Flash for an introduction to your web site. People can grow impatient when forced to view your show before your home page. Instead, put voluntary links to your Flash movies on your home page and promote them throughout the site.

Use Flash movies for

– Positioning

– Demonstration

– Comparison

– Concept Illustration

Raster Web (“Director”) Movies

B2B marketers have long been envious of consumer marketers' effective use of television. TV commercials are one of the most powerful mass positioning tools of all time. But for most B2B marketers, the television medium doesn't efficiently target niche B2B segments. And though cable television has provided more specialized programming where more B2B corporate positioning commercials are finding success, for the vast majority of the middle market, it's still a bit rich for the budget. But movies on the web…now there's a combo with some B2B traction.

In contrast to Flash vector movies, raster web movies are simply actual videos or motion film productions that are available on the web. These movies are created no differently than cinema or television commercials. They're simply digitized, edited and optimized for use on a DVD, CD or the web. They are quite a bit larger in file size than vector movies, so many times streaming technology is used for playback rather than downloading the entire movie before playing.

With the web growing fast as the number-one resource for business marketers, it is beginning to make sense to make special "infomercials" and short positioning movies for the web. In essence, this is simply a more engaging reincarnation of the obligatory, dust-collecting "corporate video" but with some new twists and exciting, new distribution options. Rather than make one corporate video that comes packaged with caffeine supplements, produce exciting, new, shorter, more to-the-point flicks that aim for high marks in immediacy and relevancy with web-savvy buyers.

BMW has become a leader in this area. You may have seen promotions for their web movies over the past couple of years. I received a great email last week from BMW promoting their new 3-Series cars. In the well-designed html email was a still photo of the car with a link to a movie that allowed me to set it in motion. I watched the car cornering and performing other BMW-esque maneuvers on a winding coastal highway. Very nice for positioning. Very effective story telling.

T-Mobile is now unveiling a custom-produced version of the smash TV series "24" on short web movies delivered to select web-capable wireless phones. Though this may be a superfluous demonstration of technology and off-task with the utility of wireless phones, the fact that it can be done is in itself impressive.

Other uses for this phone technology and storytelling style are sure to catch fire over the next few years (movie trailers, mobile video mail, etc).

Paid search engines are a great way to efficiently target and recruit viewer-ship for your web movies and Flash presentations. Services such as Google’s AdWords, Yahoo’s Overture, Espotting.com and FindWhat.com are services that guide search inquiries from popular search engines to your website and only charge per click-through to your web site. This is a very efficient promotional tool to hook up with exceptionally qualified, active prospects.

ROI

The great thing about doing anything on the web –like multimedia presentations – is that you can get some fantastic metrics on who is watching, when and why. From this and other information, relationships can be made between ROI and spending that could never have been as precise before web technology.

Most Internet Service Providers (a.k.a. "ISPs" or Hosting Services) now include web metrics packages that enable you to see how much traffic you're getting, through what pages visitors enter your website, how long they visit, which pages they visit, when, and a host of other metrics.

How do you use this information for determining the ROI of web media? When you run promotions (with strong offers via email or other direct marketing), use a special web address as a response device, so you can measure the effectiveness of lead generation. Once the visitors are on the site, you can carefully structure their paths with strategic links that lead to your web movies, Flash presentations and other web media. This should help to position your brand and motivate the visitor. A call for action to download information or order products at the end of the movies can be used to measure the effectiveness of the movies.

With each marketing or branding objective, new and creative ways of measuring your ROI can be devised, and motion media developed to motivate action.

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To ship a piece of glass, it needs to be crated. We build a crate around every piece of glass which we ship. It needs to be a custom fit so that the glass can be adequately protected.

The shrink wrap machine is a tool that can transform your business. In this simple, even manual process, the product that you are selling is carefully cared for. Yet, there are many more advantages to using these machines. In fact, shrink wrap is something that any business that provides products for sale should consider investing in. It is affordable and reliable as well as a great way to drum up its own business.

Promoting your business means more than business cards and phone book advertisements. You need a promotional item or gift that will remind consumers you have something they want. One of the most effective and least expensive products that meet this need are promotional pens.

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