C2CBIZ
COAST TO COAST BUSINESS NETWORK DALLAS, TEXAS (817)705-0686 www.issue.com /airbrushworks /1/2018
Inside this issue you will find local area Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas businesses that have been recommended by others. Daniel Rowland local Airbrush Artist along with Gregory Bey and his Marketing Expertise. We also have contributions Alan Holmes AKA THE HUMAN SEARCH ENGINE…Last but not least Geoffrey Cohen knows how to draw traffic to your business weather its online or brick and mortar.
To place your Ad in our next issue Contact us at: ourtrafficstore@gmail.com (817)705-0686
We are here to spotlight any small local business! Online or a mom and pop shop we are here to help!!!! www.issuu.com/airbrushworks Online vs Brick and Mortar
Written by Kurt Jetta, Ph.D. CEO and founder of TABS Analytics, a technology-enabled retail and consumer analytics firm. For years, business headlines have screamed about the demise of brick-and-mortar retail stores at the hands of e-commerce. The accepted storyline seems to be that the steep drop in business at physical stores is a result of growing online sales. If you dig deeper into the market of consumer data, you'll find the truth is much less black and white. My company has fielded surveys on outlet buying patterns in most consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) categories. We have found that share gains from online are modest, at best. In some cases, such as baby products, e-commerce increased share but still experienced a sales decline because of weakness in the overall sector. For others, like vitamins and cosmetics, both online and brick-and-mortar sales experienced gains. In no instance did e-commerce share grow enough to materially affect brick-andmortar sales. Take online grocery. Our fourth annual Food and Beverage Report revealed that online grocery share is anemic, struggling to reach the 2% share mark. Less than 5% of adults make at least six online purchases per year. By contrast, 78% of adults purchase regularly at traditional grocery stores, and 56% shop at
Walmart. The survey also showed online shopping grew by 14% compared to only 2% growth for physical stores. Brick-and-mortar is dying! Let’s take a deep breath and run through the numbers, something most industry analysts seem loath to do. Analyzing data from the Food and Beverage Report, we find that online grocery's share gain from 1.4 to 1.6 equates to $1.6 billion in extra sales. The 2% growth by physical stores is 10 times that number, $16 billion. Even if we shift all of the online growth to physical stores, the growth rate would only move to 2.2%, still historically low levels for the CPG industry. The non-effect of online sales also were evident in our study of beauty products. Walmart was the clear leader in beauty with an estimated 17 share of transactions, and it also posted the highest share gains, along with specialty beauty retailers Ulta and Sephora. Amazon and other e-tailers also grew share, but not as much as the leading brick-and-mortar outlets.
In fact, only 10-15% of U.S. adults make online purchases at least once a week, according to the Pew Research Center. This statistic calls into question any industry estimates that put online market share above that level. It’s certainly possible, and we see sectors, such as baby, to be more like a 20% share. But the burden is on the analysts to support their estimates when we know so few Americans are heavy online shoppers.
Let’s go beyond CPG, where data is less prevalent and, therefore, more prone to overstatement. One report by Fung Global Retail & Technology pins Amazon’s share of the U.S. apparel market, including third-party sales, at a modest 3.7% for 2016. In the same study, it's revealed through consumer survey data that no e-commerce site made the top 10 of preferred outlets. Despite these data points, Fung provides an estimate from EuroMonitor that pegs apparel online share at 15.5%. That number is not credible given we have two data points that contradict it, and no data that supports that high estimate. Of course, we can easily disprove my skepticism about the importance of online sales by just looking at the annual reports of all the omnichannel retailers out there. Alas, that is mainly a dry well because most retailers do not provide these specifics on online sales. This action, by definition, means that the sales are not significant enough to be considered material. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Two Factors More Important Than E-Commerce
So if weakness in brick-and-mortar retailers is not the primary cause behind a shift to online shopping, what gives? Our research suggests there are two macroeconomic factors at play. First, there’s an income
effect resulting from uneven growth rates in purchasing power by income bracket. And secondly, there is a structural shift in consumer preference. People are moving away from consumer staples and apparel toward electronics and durables.
Only the top 20% of income earners have seen their income grow, according to U.S. Census Bureau. At the same time, the income of the remaining 80% has either lagged or just kept pace with inflation. This hurts the CPG industry because the marginal spending on CPG is lower among those in the high-income bracket than other consumers.
For illustration: For every extra dollar of income for a household making $55,000 per year (the national median), roughly eight cents will go toward CPG products. That number drops to only five cents (a 38% decline) for a household making $180,000 per year. Based on our analysis of Nielsen data over the past five years, CPG sales have grown less than 2% annually in the mass market, while overall consumption of all goods has grown closer to 4% annually, corroborating the income disparity thesis. The growth in consumption appears in other sectors. For example, consumer tech and cars are two sectors seeing significant gains and eating up share of wallet. So the "lost" brick-and-mortar sales that some feel are shifting to online sales are actually going away or shifting to other sectors.
Gazing Into The E-Commerce Crystal Ball
While there is much uncertainty about the future of e-commerce, what we can say is that there is no demand-based rationale for the dramatic growth rates espoused by most industry analysts. We look at flat income growth from most Americans (shifting consumption preferences) and low acceptance of online shopping overall. This adds up to a growing e-commerce channel, but it's still not large enough in most sectors to have a material impact.
Could Walmart bring e-commerce shopping to the masses? Maybe, but it has lots of ground to make up. In the meantime, all retailers have plenty of time to study consumers and understand why more of them are not doing their shopping online. Only then can retailers not named Amazon develop offers that will change consumers’ minds.
Complete List of Self-Employed Expenses and Tax Deductions Self-employed professionals face unique challenges when tax season comes around. But because they don’t have taxes withheld from their paychecks like traditional workers, they can use deductions to cover their expenses and lower their tax burden. But when it comes to self-employed deductions, the process certainly isn’t one-size-fits-all. Deductible expenses are those that are seen as “ordinary and necessary” for conducting business. These expenses can range from advertising to utilities and everything in between. Remember, however, that you can only deduct the business use of the expense you’re deducting. This list is relevant for many self-employed professionals. This may include ridesharing drivers, such as Uber or Lyft drivers, who claim large mileage deductions, or writers who might take the home office deduction as part of a quiet refuge from the corporate scene. These deductions can also apply to designers, housekeepers, photographers, construction workers, consultants or any other professionals who work for themselves. Some tax deductions may not apply to your profession, but you might be surprised by the number that do. When you’re ready to file, you’ll list the majority of your deductions in Part II of your Schedule C (Form 1040). If you have less than $5,000 in claims, you may be able to use Schedule C-EZ. Whichever you choose, both are due April 15, along with your annual tax return. (NOTE: If April 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, it is observed the following Monday.) Here is a list of common expenses that are ordinary and necessary for many self-employed individuals. Note that all of the lines specified are for Schedule C only, with two exceptions noted below.
Deductible Expenses Advertising (Line 8) Any materials for marketing your business (e.g. flyers, signage, ads, branded promo items, events or trade shows) and the cost of developing those (e.g. agency or designer costs). Office holiday parties, gifts (e.g. books) that aren’t branded (use “Other Expenses”) Business Insurance (Line 15) Insurance intended to protect your business (e.g. fire, theft, flood, property, malpractice, errors and omission, general liability, malpractice, workers’ compensation). Health insurance, auto insurance (use “Car Expenses” or Add Mileage), disability insurance Car Expenses (Line 9) The business portion of your actual car expenses (e.g. gas, insurance, registration, repairs and maintenance) or public transit expenses (e.g. buses) if you use local transportation. Expenses (other than Parking/Tolls) if you use the standard mileage rate (use Add Mileage) Depreciation and Section 179 (Line 13) Depreciation expense on business assets (e.g. computers, office equipment, tools, furniture, cars). Note: The IRS requires you to use Form 4562 to claim these deductions. Car depreciation if using the standard mileage rate (use Add Mileage) Home Office Deduction (Line 30) Expenses related to a home office (e.g. business portion of rent, utilities, repairs, insurance, mortgage interest). You’ll need to fill out a Form 8829, unless you use the simplified method. Expenses if you use the simplified method (it includes all home office expenses) Meals (Line 24b) Meals that you had with a client and during which you engaged in business discussions, or those incurred while traveling on an out-of-town business trip. Office Expenses (Line 18) Office expenses (e.g. cleaning services for office, general office maintenance) that don’t have a separate category. Home office costs (use “Home Office”), rent (use “Rent”), utilities (use “Utilities”) Supplies (Line 22) Any supplies that you use and replace (e.g. cleaning supplies if you clean homes, office supplies like pens or printer ink, hot/cold bags if you do delivery). Office decorations and some other office expenses (use “Office Expenses”) Travel (Line 24a) Travel costs related to business trips (e.g. lodging, airfare or rental cars, local transportation). The travel must be overnight, away from your residence and primarily for business. Personal costs while traveling (e.g. dinner with a friend), meals while traveling (use “Meals”) Other Expenses (Line 27a) Any other business expenses that are ordinary and necessary (e.g. education to improve skills for your job, banking fees, association dues, business gifts, industry magazines). Expenses with their own separate categories, expenses that aren’t ordinary and necessary
Less Common Expenses for the Self-Employed
You might encounter some of these expenses in your line of work, but they’re generally less common. Commissions and Fees (Line 10) Commissions/fees paid to nonemployees to generate revenue (e.g. agent fees). Many companies (e.g. Uber, Airbnb) remove their cut before paying you, so don’t include those. City license fees (use “Taxes/Licenses”), commissions paid to employees (use “Wages”) Contract Labor (Line 11) Any payments made to independent contractors (e.g. a contracted web developer). Wages paid to employees (use “Wages”), lawyer/professional fees (use “Legal Services”) Depletion (Line 12) If you’re in the business of mining natural resources (e.g. oil wells, natural gas, logging), you can write off the use of those resources. (We suggest getting an accountant if this applies.) Gas for driving (use “Car Expenses” or Add Mileage), home/office utilities (use “Utilities”) Employee Benefit Programs (Line 14) Costs related to benefits you provide your employees (e.g. health or life insurance, education assistance, accident or liability insurance). Your own health/retirement benefits (deductible on Form 1040 Line 28 and 29) Employee Wages (Line 26) Wages paid to employees (e.g. salaries, commissions, bonuses). Employee benefits (use “Employee Benefits”); payments to yourself Interest (mortgage) (Line 16a) Interest paid on a mortgage for property used for business, other than your primary home. You may receive a Form 1098 from the lender if you pay mortgage interest during the year. Interest on primary home (use “Home Office Deduction” and Form 8829 if used in business) Interest (car, other) (Line 16b) Other types of interest (e.g. credit cards, business lines of credit, interest on car payments). You can only write off the portion related to business, not the portion related to personal use. Interest on personal loans, home office mortgage interest (use “Home Office Deduction”) Legal / Professional Services (Line 17) Professional fees related to your business (e.g. attorneys, tax preparers, accountants, other professionals). Services provided by your employees (use “Employee Wages”) Pension Plans (Line 19) Contributions you make to your employees’ retirement plans (e.g. 401(k), Keogh plans, profit-sharing plans). Contributions made to your own plan (use Form 1040 Line 28) Rent or Lease (vehicles, equipment) (Line 20a) Rent or lease payments on business property not owned by you (e.g. machines, equipment, vehicles). Car lease payments if you use the standard mileage rate (use Add Mileage) Rent or Lease (other business property) (Line 20b) Rent or lease payments on items that aren’t vehicles or equipment (e.g. office or land rent), including any government taxes on those items. Rent for home office (use “Home Office”), rent for trade show booths (use “Advertising”) Repairs and Maintenance (Line 21) Repairs or maintenance on business machines, equipment or offices (e.g. repainting office, fixing computer/laptop, replacing worn parts on equipment). Car-related repairs (use “Car Expenses”), significant improvements (use “Depreciation”)
Taxes/Licenses (Line 23) Various business taxes (e.g. your share of FICA if you have employees) or licenses (e.g. state or local licenses, or licenses required for your business type). Self-employment tax or income tax Utilities (Line 25) Utilities related to your office (e.g. electric, gas, garbage, water). your house (use “Home Office”)
Utilities for
Health Insurance Deduction (Line 29 of Form 1040) You can deduct the costs of your personal health insurance premiums as a self-employed person as long as you meet certain criteria:
Your business is claiming a profit. If your business claims a loss for the tax year, you can’t claim this deduction. You were not eligible to enroll in an employer’s health plan. This also includes your spouse’s plan. If you were eligible to enroll in one and chose not to, you cannot claim this deduction. You can only claim premiums paid for the months when you were not eligible for an employer’s health plan. Self-Employed Contributions Act (SECA) Tax Deduction (Line 27 on Form 1040) If you’re a traditional employee, your Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax burden, known as FICA, is split between you and your employer. If you’re self-employed, you’re responsible for paying your own share of those Social Security and Medicare contributions, collectively known as SECA. But fear not! You too can be taxed just like your traditionally employed peers by claiming an SECA deduction on Line 27 of Form 1040. You will compute this amount as part of Schedule SE. While it may seem like a frustrating and time-consuming process, tracking your expenses and claiming them as deductions can save you a good amount of money when it comes time to file taxes. You can also save time and relieve some stress by using financial software like QuickBooks Self-Employed to track expenses throughout the year and automatically classify them as deductions, but it’s also smart to keep this list handy to ensure you’re on the right track. For more tax-time tips, check out our guide to taxes for the self-employed. For other expenses that may qualify for a personal deduction, see our article on Schedule A deductions. And to see a list of common expenses for your profession.
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Why I'll Never Go Back to the Office You must have probably heard about various benefits of working from home – right from being able to work in your PJs to all the money you save on gas. Is it lucrative? Undoubtedly attractive, but working from home has a lot more to offer you than you have thought about. Here are a few ways how relaxation from daily office routine and working from home makes you feel blessed:
No Office, No Stress There are significant advantages, besides the obvious, to a lifestyle that doesn’t involve the office. The myriad small stresses of being in an office slowly start making their absence felt. That gossipy co-worker who asks you for help only to keep chatting for the next half-an-hour is no longer a worry and distraction. No longer do you have to deal with office
politics that take on the tone of a Hillary vs. Trump. You can get as many cups of coffee as you want without having to be bothered about the disapproving gaze of your manager.
Commute Less, Live More There are other reasons, apart from the financial savings, that 44% of Forbes’ survey respondents listed not having to commute as a major benefit. You no longer arrive at work in a bad mood because of the stress of sitting in traffic for one or two hours, snarl at everyone and mess up your work. The time you save can be given over to the fitness program you have wanted to try out, the hobby classes you are interested in or even simply taking care of chores around the house. That also means that your weekend is free of the chaos that normally accompanies a life in which commute is king.
Your Schedule is Your Own The quality of your work and your productivity may actually increase once you start working from home. A lot of workfrom-home jobs come with a flexible schedule so you can set your own deadlines and work at a time that is convenient for you. For example, I’m not a morning person and getting up at the crack of dawn was wearing me out. Once I started working from home I could sleep in, and being a night owl, I had no problems working late in the night to complete my projects. It also means that you can schedule your time with friends, family and pets without having to worry about working late or getting stuck in traffic or even missing out on important events. As a bonus, household appointments, such as the pesky repairman who always shows up late, can be scheduled during a weekday without you having to take leave from work. You can decide which days you want off and plan that vacation to Hawaii well in advance.
Not every job allows you the freedom to work from home, but if you are seriously contemplating a change in lifestyle that allows you more time with your loved ones and less stress, you should at least consider the option. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised at the changes you see in your life.
7 Ways your life improves when you work for yourself Whether you ditch the day job to be full-time self-employed, or your supplementing your income with a side job, there are some amazing ways your life improves when you take the plunge to work for yourself. Here are just a few things you’ll notice are suddenly better. 1-You make the decisions From what computer to work on to what chair to sit on, and what music will be playing (or not), working for yourself means you get to make all the decisions about your environment, which means you can tailor it to suit your personal tastes and needs. You don’t have to argue with the technical department over why Facebook is blocked on your computer but nobody else’s and you get to decide about when you get to take lunch. 2 – You choose your office Some people choose to have a formal desk and chair setup, while others work from their dining-room table, sofa or even, like bestselling author Marian Keyes, from their beds! It’s up to you. Working for yourself means you are responsible for your own productivity and whatever makes you feel ready to work, goes. 3 – No more dress codes When you remove office dress codes from the picture, you really get to explore what makes you comfortable. Whether you are the type of person who gets dressed in business casual or stays in sweatpants all day, it’s about what works for you. 4 – What commute?
Did you know that anything longer than a 20-minute commute increases your stress levels and makes you an unhappier person all round? Why not remove that stress from your life by working for yourself? Working from home means no commuting, which also means less time wasted every day. Self-employed people often cite the lack of commute as a motivating factor to work hard at making a success of it.
5 – Awesome co-workers Recently, studies have shown that having pets in the workplace could increase productivity. But why drag your dogs and cats to your office, when you can work with them in their (and your) own home? The great thing about pets is, they will force you to take breaks from your desk from time to time, which is very important to your mental and physical wellbeing
6 – You dictate the schedule It’s amazing what you discover about yourself when you are self-employed. For example, when you’re no longer obliged to get up at 6am every day, you soon discover whether you work better in the early morning, afternoon or even late at night. Some at-home workers start their day as early as 4am, but by noon, they’ve already worked an eight-hour day and can take the afternoon off, guilt-free. Others prefer to work more traditional office hours, while some only get going by late morning, but work until well into the evening.
7 – You control your social life How many times have you turned down a social event you really wanted to attend because you knew you couldn’t make it due to work? If you’re self-employed, you get to make the decisions on when to work and when to party. If you want to attend a social event but know you have a tonne of work, you have the option of pulling a couple of late nights or early mornings to get it done in advance.
Working for yourself comes with many advantages. These are just a few. We bet, if you think hard about it, you could come up with several more. If you want to work for yourself, explore the options available on our website. We’re sure there’s something that will work for you!
West Irving Church of God in Christ
Pastor Andrew Jackson, Jr.
I greet each of you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for taking this opportunity to visit our website. I trust you received a blessing from it. We have a great challenge before us and that challenge is to build the Kingdom of God. The commandment of our Lord remains the same: that commandment is for us to reach out to the lost and dying world that does not know Christ. Jesus said in the book of Mark 16:15-16: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned”. The church has been commissioned to win souls for the kingdom. The ministry at West Irving Church is a ministry for the community and for the total man. Our worship services are designed to bring worshipper into the presence of God through powerful praise and worship and with an anointed word through preaching and teaching. Weekly Bible study allows attendees to ask questions in an effort to gain a better understanding of God’s Word and His perfect will for each of our lives. We are actively working with over 23 ministries at the church which involves every segment of the community, age group and gender. It is our goal to involve everyone at West Irving in evangelism, either by going, giving, serving, or praying. We all have a responsibility to proclaim the gospel. In living in the world, we must not lose sight of the world, for God loves all people (John 3:16-18; Romans 5:8). He hates the sin, not the sinner. I encourage each of you to give full prayerful support to the goals and vision of this ministry. God is with us because we are on His side. His side is the winning side; therefore we are winners. If you need prayer, counseling or directions to the church, feel free to email us at pastor@westirvingchurch.org or call us at 972-790-8036. May God richly bless you and keep you. We look forward to seeing you at West Irving Church of God in Christ in one of our worship services.
Five Selling Techniques That Really Work – And Five That Don’t The Best Sales Techniques… And Some Of The Least Effective Who couldn’t use an arsenal of effective selling techniques? But there is a lot of “conventional wisdom” out there that, in reality, doesn’t help you make the sale. Here are five of the best sales techniques that really work, as well as five classic go-to selling techniques that may, in fact, be hurting your sales efforts.
Selling Techniques that Work 1. Challenging the Status Quo Most salespeople see the sales process as a linear process. At some point, it has an end – the prospect will choose either you or your competitor. The truth is that those are not the only two end points. There’s another option – no decision – which is chosen all too often. Studies show that 20 to 60 percent of deals in the pipeline are lost to “no decision” rather than to competitors. It’s only by challenging the status quo that you can get your prospects to see that change – i.e., adopting your solution – is necessary.
2. Finding Your Value Wedge How much overlap is there between what you can provide to your prospects and what your competition can provide? Most B2B salespeople admit that overlap is 70 percent or higher. So rather than focusing on that “parity area,” you should focus on what you can do for the customer
that is different from what the competition can do – this is your “value wedge.” Your value wedge must be unique to you, important to the customer, and defensible.
3. Telling Stories with Contrast Messaging is about telling your company’s story in a way that attracts prospects to your doors and turns them into customers. The challenge is that, if you’re like most companies, you tell your story in a way that doesn’t differentiate you much, if at all. But to create a powerful perception of value, you need to tell both the “before” story and the “after” story – you need to tell customer stories with contrast. When you tell customer stories, don’t be afraid to link data with emotion. Often the best way to do that is to talk about the people who were affected by the challenging environment they were working in. Then talk about how their lives became better, easier, more fun, or less stressful after using your solution.
4. Making the Customer the Hero Every story has a hero. Who is the hero of your story? Is it your company and/or solution? If the answer is yes, then you need to rework your story – and make the customer the hero. The customer is the one who needs to save the day, not you. Your role is that of the mentor. You are there to help your customers see what has changed in their world and how they can adapt and better survive and thrive.
5. Using 3D Props There are many ways to tell a story. But one extremely effective – and underutilized – technique is to use 3D props. Props break the pattern of what’s expected – and can make the prospect sit up and pay attention. Props make a metaphor or analogy tangible. Props create a physical reminder and can continue selling even when you’ve left the room.
Five Sales Techniques that Don’t Work 1. Selling Benefits Everyone knows you need to sell benefits not features, right? Well, no. If you start your customer conversation with benefits, you’re jumping the gun when it comes to how most prospects are looking at their first interactions with you and your company. Remember that 20 to 60 percent of pipeline deals are lost to the status quo. That means that you need to establish a buying vision – the case for why the prospect needs to change – before your solution’s benefits will resonate. That means you need to effectively challenge the status quo and show how the prospect’s world can change for the better (see Selling Techniques that Work #1).
2. Competing in a Bake-Off When you position yourself against your competitors, you’re competing in a vendor bake-off. It’s a “spec war” and you might gain the upper hand with one feature, but then the competition meets your feature and raises another. In the process, you and your competition are often having a very similar dialogue with the prospect, leading to the dreaded “no decision.” Instead of talking to the prospect about “why us,” focus instead on challenging the status quo by getting the prospect to think about “why change” and “why now,” and demonstrate the truly unique value of your solution (see Selling Techniques That Work #2).
3. Marketing to Personas Many marketers use personas to develop messaging. And, on the face of it, it seems to make sense: defining the profile of your prospect will enable you to develop messages targeted to that profile. The problem is that personas are typically defined by who the prospect is – demographics
and behaviors. But the need to change is not driven by a persona. The fact that a prospect shares similar characteristics with the persona isn’t what causes them to re-think their current approach and consider your solution as a new way to solve their problems. Instead of developing messages based on personas, focus on how to convince prospects that the status quo they are standing on is “unsafe,” then show them how life is better with your solution (see Selling Techniques that Work #3).
4. Relying on the Standard Elevator Pitch According to Wikipedia, an elevator pitch is “a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition.” And just about every sales organization under the sun spends a lot of time trying to perfect that pitch. The problem is that the standard elevator pitch tells your story – not your prospect’s story. So instead of spending time refining your elevator pitch, focus on building the story that features your customer as the hero (see Selling Techniques That Work #4).
5. Delivering PowerPoint Presentations The PowerPoint presentation has become the de facto go-to approach for sales meetings. Marketing churns out slides, then salespeople turn out the lights and rely on logo slides, bullet points, and animations to do the selling for them. The problem isn’t with PowerPoint itself but with how it’s used – and the right time and place for it. But when you’re in intimate, executive conversations, use sales techniques that are visual, and can really make a lasting impact. Instead of spending time refining your slide deck, focus on telling a compelling story and using props to pique your prospect’s interest (see Selling Techniques that Work #5).
Our Mission PeopleFund creates economic opportunity and financial stability for underserved people by providing access to capital, education and resources to build healthy small businesses. At PeopleFund, we believe we have fulfilled our mission if our clients can: Make informed business and financial decisions Gain access to appropriate credit Build their business or organization in a healthy way Pay off or refinance their debt at a lower rate Become a part of the financial mainstream Our Vision PeopleFund believes that healthy small business growth is the key to economic recovery and development and that every person, no matter their background or economic situation, has the ability to become a successful entrepreneur and job creator given access to resources they
need. Our goal is to give people the opportunity to turn their talents into a sustainable livelihood and achieve ďŹ nancial stability for themselves and their families. We inspire, educate, fund, and elevate clients on the path to prosperity and the American Dream.
Our vision is to be the premier nonprofit lender in Texas. We’ll achieve this through our core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do.
Target Practice
Do You Know Who Your Ideal Prospect Is and How to Locate Them? Greetings Everyone: Today's money making opportunity/work-from-home marketplace is flooded with marketers trying to sell every type of money making opportunity imaginable. This is a buyers market for the money making opportunity seeker. So, the opportunity seller has to determine how and where to find potential customers - those who are eager to spend their money on these opportunities. First, let's consider online marketing. In the early days of the Internet the marketer who was selling information about making money online had a huge advantage. Back in 1995, when the Internet exploded on to the scene, savvy marketers who recognized the Internet as a marketing tool were making money hand over fist. Things were really good. But if we fast forward twenty three years to 2018 we see things have changed dramatically for the online money making opportunity seller.
The name of the game for any online marketer is "Traffic". However, if the traffic you drive to your web site is not eager and able to buy, the product or service you are selling won't make any money... Below are some strategies to consider when searching for your ideal prospects, customers who are willing and able to purchase your product or service. * Write guest posts for high traffic bloggs in your niche.
* Create a news release about your product or service to drive traffic to your site. * Do a joint venture with marketers in your niche. Have them offer your product or service to their list and split the profits with them. * Use the power and reach of social media to target prospects who have shown an interest in what you have to sell. In the days before the Internet, experienced marketers would go to the .ibrary and research certain directories to locate prospects for their direct mail offers.
One of the most popular source for marketers was the SRDS: Standard Rates and Data Service. One of their directory was called "the book of lists." This directory contained the company mailing lists of paying customers of their products or services. A marketer would look for companies who sold products or services in their niche. He would then rent these names for a one time use. Along with the names and address of the customers would be: what product was purchased, the cost of the product and when the product was purchased. Purchases that were made within the past 90 days were called "Hot Line Names" and these names would cost more than the older names. The more information you requested, such as, phone number, sex, age, income, the more expensive the names would be. When the marketer did the mailing, the people who purchased from them became their customer and a part of their own list.
Renting out their list was an extra stream of passive income for the companies who rented out their list in these directories.
If a marketer wanted to rent a list, they had to rent at least 5000 names. This was because the list broker sought to maximize their commission when the names were rented from a company that they represented. If you have the budget, this is still a sure-fire way to find buyers in your niche. Here are some good sources to check out: Mailing lists http://nextmark.com
Audio Interviews on Marketing http://executiveaudioinstitute.com
Unique Marketing Tips http://archive.enchantednlp.com
Here's an inexpensive way to target potential buyers for the product or service you offer:
Use classified ads in offline publications to attract your potential customers.
I use this method to add the names of people who are interested in the topic of my ad. I have been using this marketing method for years and I can guarantee it works. Your ad just has to be in the right publication, under the right heading, with an attention getting headline. Check out Magazines.com to find publications in your niche.
Here is a great source for some eye-catching headlines: http://mastercopywriters.com/37headlines.htm You can also do the same thing with my online classified ad sources. Just go to:
http://go2homebiz101.com/freshleads This is where you will find a large listing of free and low cost classified ads. Just place your classified ad under the heading related to your product or service. to get fresh leads to grow your targeted list. Alright, that's it for now. Until next time . . .
Happy Marketing from Greg Bey
Weather-related absences Part I: Employee rights
by Lorelei M. Krucki, CPP, Department of Corporate Training, St. Petersburg College (FL) and Member, AIPB Board of Advisors
Our goal as your national association is to raise bookkeepers’ professional status. We do this by offering professional self-study courses in bookkeeping, accounting and tax that increase your value to your company or clients—and by keeping you fully up to date with The General Ledger, Bad weather can close highways and block streets, forcing your firm to close for days or preventing employees from getting to work. You should have a clear, written policy on when employees—non-exempt or exempt—will or will not be paid if they do not or cannot come to work. It should tell employees the procedures for closings, including how employees will be notified. It may also cover when employees may or may not be paid. No policy should be implemented or shown to employees until it is reviewed by an employment law advisor. Below are the rules and regs you need to know to create such a policy. Generally, whether or not employees must be paid during a weather-related absence depends on their employment status—i.e., exempt or non-exempt. Non-exempt employees. FLSA requires you to pay non-exempt employees at least the minimum wage only for hours actually worked during the workweek. Thus, you are not required to pay them if they miss work because your offices are closed or, if they are open, the employee cannot get to work. Exempt employees. Even if you close your offices during the workweek due to bad weather, if exempt employees are “ready, willing and able to work,” they must be paid their full salary in that workweek if they perform any work in the workweek—regardless of how many hours. Exception: Under FSLA, “when the office or facility is open for business” and exempt employees do not report to work because of bad weather, they are not considered “ready, willing and able” to work—even if that lack of readiness is due to conditions beyond their control. So if you are open and they do not report to work for an entire day due to bad weather, they may be docked 1 full day’s pay for that day. But say that for 4 days in the workweek the news says highways and main roads in your area are closed, then on the 5th day, exempt employees come to work. You must pay them for the full workweek if they worked for only 1 hour on 1 day, even if for the rest of the week they were unable to work because your offices were closed.
Now assume that the news says only to use caution driving—i.e., that highways and roads are open. Exempt employees who do not come in may be docked for each full day in that workweek that they do not report to work. Still trickier: the news says roads are passable, but Jim says his street is blocked by fallen trees. What is your policy on that? This is why you need a written policy that employees know about before weather emergencies or nearemergencies occur.
JEFF’S GEMS
I hope this INFORMATION finds you all well! I have been invited to 2 successful & proven opportunities designed to help you create additional income streams and help others. The First is an established fully automated gifting program. There is no referring required. But, once you start receiving gifts, you'll want to start sharing ABN Abundant Blessings Now with everyone. MY LINK FOR THIS PROGRAM IS HERE….WE CAN EMAL YOU THE INFORMATION ALSO http://abundantblessingsnow.com?id=geoffreyac The second is a different kind of Crowd Funding. It is a Coop and is called CoopCrowdFunding. Please watch the short video below and join using my referral link. Also attached is a one page overview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO-6NecNPYY&t Referral link to learn more and join me. http://isittime4achangetoday.com Please feel to contact me with interest and questions. Best Regards; Jeff Cohen (724) 699-9253 cell EST geoffreyac@gmail.com https://ourtrafficstore.com
List of DFW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
African Chamber of Commerce – DFW Dallas, TX (214) 628-2569 North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Dallas, TX (214) 368-6485 Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Fort Worth, TX (817) 336-2491 Arlington Chamber of Commerce Arlington, TX (817) 275-2613 Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce Dallas, TX (214) 421-5200 Grapevine Chamber of Commerce Grapevine, TX (817) 481-1522 Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce Carrollton, TX (469) 587-0420 Coppell Chamber of Commerce Coppell, TX (972) 393-2829 Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Dallas, TX (214) 521-6007 Dallas Regional Chamber Dallas, TX (214) 746-6600 US India Chamber of Commerce Dallas, TX (214) 346-9559 Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce Dallas, TX (214) 943-4567 Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce Dallas, TX (972) 241-8250 French American Chamber-Commerce Dallas Fort Worth Dallas, TX (972) 241-0111 Yeti Chamber of Commerce Irving, TX (737) 924-6035 North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Dallas, TX (214) 368-6485 Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce Irving, TX (214) 217-8484
I am the owner of the D & D TSHIRTS and the Co-Founder of a Facebook Group, named, COAST TO COAST BUSINESS NETWORK. I am also a Minister through COGIC. Bishop Clifford Jackson, Sr. Pastor of St Paul Monument of Faith COGIC, ordained me April 2012. I have been a self-employed Airbrush Artist for 20+ years. I started my first Airbrushing Business right after I left Westport Sr. High, located in Kansas City MO. My BIG BREAK came back 28 years ago, when I had the privilege of airbrushing some gear for former WWF/E Superstars. I have done some commission work for Warner Brothers Animation Department. I recently started an outreach program and formed URBAN ART EDUCATION, an outlet to teach youth and whoever has the desire to learn Airbrushing, develop their own style, as well as, Enterprise Skills if they would like to open up their own Airbrushing Business. I held classes at UMKC through their “Communiversity” Education Department. I am also providing low cost classes through the City of Dallas Parks and Rec. Department at the Anita Martinez Rec. Center. I am also on staff at the Jr. College Level at Tarrant County Community College as an Adjunct Instructor. My hopes and dreams are to be able to help my fellow small business Owners. That is why I started the Facebook Group. It was a platform to inspire others to pursue their Dreams. So that they too, may use the phrase , “I HAVE WINED AND DINED WITH KINGS AND QUEENS, AND SLEPT IN ALLEYWAYS EATING PORK AND BEANS. In short, I want others to achieve their full potential.
Daniel Rowland
CONTACT INFO: (817)705-0686 Airbrushworks2012@gmail.com
How To Start a Business Budget Every successful business needs a budget, and here are some tips on how to make one that works for you. It's a basic tenet of business - before you can make money you have to figure out how to spend it. Drafting a budget is a key way to help you turn your dreams for business success into reality. Using this vital tool, you can track cash on hand, business expenses, and now much revenue you need to keep your business growing -- or at least afloat. By committing these numbers to paper, your chances of succeeding with your business are helped by anticipating future needs, spending, profits and cash flow. It also may let you spot problems before they mushroom, so that you can switch gears. "It's like a roadmap for your company," says Victor Butcher, of Butcher Financial Services in Memphis, Tenn., a former president of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants' Memphis Chapter who advises small businesses. "You need the roadmap to understand where you're going with your business." Conversely, if you don't have the discipline to sit down and assemble a business budget, you may not have insight into how your business is performing from year to year, whether there are cuts you can make to improve performance and whether you have the needed funds to purchase new equipment -- be it computers, trucks, machinery, or a new factory. "It's like being in a car without a map or GPS system," Butcher says. "You hope going in the right direction, but you don't know." The following pages will detail why your business needs a budget, what components you should include in a budget, and how to get started drafting a budget, and how to use the budget to better your business performance.
Why Your Business Needs a Budget The bottom line on why to draft a budget for your business is that it will help you figure our how much money you have, how much you need to spend, and how much you need to bring in to meet business goals. But there are other reasons, too. Bankers and other financiers may want to see a budget when you ask for a loan. Employees should also be privy to the budget so that they understand where the business is going and are motivated to work harder. "It would be stupid not to share this with employees. Everybody should know what the goal of the company is. It's a group goal," Butcher says. "Don't expect your staff to meet your goals if they don't know what they are." Budgets can also help you minimize risk to your business. A budget should be created before you sign a new lease or invest in new machinery or equipment. It's better to find out that you can't afford new office space before you commit to spending a certain amount of money every month. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, a budget can be used to indicate some of the following:
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• The funds needed for labor and/or materials.
• For a new business, total start-up costs.
• Your costs of operations.
• The revenues necessary to support the business.
• A realistic estimate of expected profits.
You can use this information to adjust your plans or expectations going forward. A 12-month budget can be updated with actual expenditures and revenues each month so that you know you're on target. If you're missing the targets set out in your budget, you can use the budget to troubleshoot by figuring out how you can reduce expenses like labor or new computers, increase sales by more aggressive marketing, or lowering your profit expectations.
Components of a Budget A budget should include your revenues, your costs, and -- most importantly – your profits or cash flow so that you can figure out whether you have any money left over for capital improvements or capital expenses. A budget should be tabulated at least yearly. Most yearly budgets are also divided up into 12 months, with blank columns next to your estimates to fill in with your actual results as the year progresses. You may want to consult an accountant in preparing a budget, but it also may be something you can do yourself with small business financial software and/or some of the free budget worksheets and templates available online.
Here is how the SBA defines the basic budgeting components:
Sales and other revenues - These figures are a budget's "cornerstone." Try to make these estimates as accurate as possible, but err on the side of being conservative if you have to. "Everyone would like to see sales double each year but the odds of that happening are very unlikely," Butcher says. The best basis for your projected sales revenues are last year's actual sales figures. If you're just starting out, hopefully you have done your research by asking other business people in the same field as you, using knowledge of the field you had at a previous job, and/or doing market research. Total costs and expenses - Now that you have your sales estimates done, you can come up with figures for how much it will cost your business to earn those revenues. These can be tricky because sometimes they will vary because of inflation, price increases, and other factors. Costs can be divided into categories: fixed, variable, and semi-variable. • Fixed costs are those expenses that remain the same, whether or not your sales rise or fall. Some examples include rent, leased furniture, and insurance. • Variable costs correlate with sales volumes. These include the cost of raw materials you need to make products, inventory, and freight. • Semi-variable costs are fixed costs that can be variable when influenced by volume of business. These can include salaries, telecommunications, and advertising. Profits - Let's face it: you're in business to make a profit on your investment and work. You estimate this figure by subtracting your costs from your revenues. The SBA advises to check with trade associations, accountants, or bankers to make sure that you're getting an appropriate profit from your business. Once you have profit estimates, you can also start to plan for whether you can purchase new equipment, move to a bigger location, add staff, or give your employees bonuses or raises. You can also troubleshoot your projected costs and see where you can cut if your profit projections aren't up to snuff. The budget should operate according to basic mathematical equations -- either "sales = total cost + profit" or "sales - total cost = profit."
How to Draft a Business Budget Drafting a budget is easiest if you wrote one the previous year. Those projections, coupled with the actual income and expense figures you realized, would form the basis of your estimates for the coming year. But if you're reading this article, the odds are that you've never written a budget for your business before. In that case, read on.
Target your sales and profits. Start out by developing a target for your sales revenues, advises SCORE, a nonprofit group with 370 chapters that is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses form, grow and succeed. For a startup business, begin by estimating what type of realistic profit you'd like to see in the coming year. If you have been in business for a while, take your company's most recent financial statements -- be they generated by a ledger or a computer software program -- and use those as the basis for developing your sales and profit targets. The reason you start with sales and/or profits is because this information will drive the rest of your estimates for costs, expenses, and capital expenditures. Take into considering factors that might affect your sales numbers -- such as the economy or the loss of a major customer – but don't worry too much because the basic tenet of budgeting is that the figures will never turn out to be exactly right. Calculate operating expenses. A good place to start, once again, is those financial statements. These statements should include an itemized list of the fixed and variable expenses you incurred during the year, including salaries and wages, rent, postage, research, travel, utilities, taxes, etc. If you're just starting out, you're going to have to brainstorm to make sure you factor in all the costs you will incur. Figure out gross profit margin. Again, this is much easier if you've been in business for a while. In that case, estimate the cost of your goods sold (beginning inventory, goods purchased or manufactured, shipping charges, etc.) and subtract that from your overall sales revenue, SCORE advises. Take time to readjust figures. Given the estimations for sales and expenses, you most likely will want to go back and readjust your estimates to reach your profit targets. This may mean you purchase fewer new supplies in the coming year or you need to add two new employees. Factor in these adjusted costs and or savings and run the numbers again. You may need to bite the bullet and go to an accountant or business consultant for help with your budget figures. Either way, remember that it's important to use realistic figures so that your budget can help you guide your business. Remember that budgeting is not an exact science. "A budget works on common sense," Butcher says. "If you made $100,000 last year in revenue, common sense indicates you won't make a million next year. Your best off estimating in the range of $80,000 to $120,000." But be prepared to make adjustments to your budget as the year progresses. You may have set your sales figures too high when the economic slump hits your business. Or, conversely, you may land a client that doubles your business.