Excellence

Excellence. Doing things with excellence is our goal at Advertising In Motion, and my personal goal as well. I have always felt that it was important. Recently, however, after reading a little book called The Fred Factor, I have realized that it can be life changing.

Choose every day to do one thing extraordinarily well. See the difference it makes in your life and the lives of those around you.

Cost Saving Ideas for Business

If you have read this month's newsletter you know that I recently did a break even analysis for Advertising In Motion.

Looking at the long list of "fixed" costs made me carefully consider each line item. As I did, I realized, after some investigation, that I was able to decrease many of those "fixed" expenses.

Here are some of my cost saving ideas:

Supplies

• Print only with black ink. Color ink is so expensive.
• Print all documents in draft mode. This saves even your black ink thus reducing your printing costs.
• View things online. Limit yourself to printing only those things that are absolutely necessary.
• Try to condense 3 part forms into 2 part forms. This save ink, paper, or outside printing costs.
• Print smaller runs of brochures and business cards. This eliminates wasting unused media as information changes.
• Pay bills online. This saves on the cost of checks, envelopes, printer ink, and stamps.
• Move to electronic faxes, thus not printing unwanted faxes. You are not only saving money, but being green.
• Require prepayment for all orders. This not only saves the cost of sending invoices, but saves the accounts receivable department's time as well.

Advertising/Marketing

• Are you reaching your target market? Contact me if you need help with this one.
• Register your domain name on free sites.
• Have your blog on a free site.
• Link your blog and other social networking tools to your website. This helps you get ranked higher on search engines rather than paying for Google adword.
• When using Email systems such as constant contact, review the names in your contact list. Remove those with out dated email addresses and those who consistantly don't open files.
  

Car

• Be efficient with your travel as much as possible, grouping appointments by area. This saves not only gas, but valuable time.

Telephone

• Review your phone service level. Are you using the most cost effective plan for you? Can you bundle services to get a better rate?
• Do you need both a land line and a cell phone?
• Compare rates of other phone suppliers. Is there another company with comprable service that charges less?

Insurances

• Check the rates of other companies.
• At the very least, contact your agent and discuss all of the coverage you have. Are you carrying more than you need?

Taxes

• Donate unused samples or outdated materials and products to non-profits. This saves you money on your taxes and makes you feel great. Make sure you get a donation receipt at the time of your donation.

Interest

• Don't carry a balance on a credit card. Call your banker for alternative financing options. Paying interest eats into your profits.

Miscelleneous

• Pay one year on contracts rather than monthly if it gives you a price break.
• Check prices of different vendors. Compare not only cost of goods, but shipping price as well. You may find it cheaper to deal with a local vendor.
• Limit the number of samples you buy.
• Review the networking groups and organizations you belong to. Are you getting a good return on your investment?
• Review training classes that you pay for. Is there a way to get the same information for free?
• Review the software you use. Is there a more cost effective alternative?

Implementing these ideas will save me thousands of dollars over the course of a year. I believe they will help you too.

Feel free to share money saving ideas that have worked for you.

Take a Green Summer Vacation

Summer. We have looked forward to it for months. Now it is finally here and along with the wonderful weather comes summer vacations. Whether you're traveling up north or visiting other parts of the country or world this summer, please keep in mind these eco-firendly tips.

• Take some time to enjoy nature's beauty with your family.


• Pick up and properly dispose of litter you see lying around.


• Use re-useable plates, forks, and napkins for your picnics to reduce waste.


• Use stainless steel or re-useable plastic water bottles.


• Stay in hotels or motels that have gone green, or better yet camp.


• Take a train or boat instead of driving.


• Park the car and walk or bike to areas of interest near your hotel or campground.


• Support eco-friendly businesses on your trip.

Have a relaxing summer vacation!

Your Name is Your Word

Proverbs 22:8 A good name is more desirable that great riches, to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

I recently signed a contract with a company to do two agreed upon projects. One project was small and the other was somewhat larger. The vendor called me to say the small project was done.

When I stopped to pick up the completed project the vendor stated that she could not do the larger project for the amount that we had agreed upon – the amount stated in a contract signed by both of us. This was not due to a change in the scope of the project. She simply had decided the amount was too low because she felt the organization for whom the work was being done would become very prosperous.

I was totally taken aback. I have learned through eight years in business that your word is your name. When you sign a contract to do a project or sell a product you do not go back to the customer and say, “I want more money for this project.”

Integrity is one of the most important aspects of any business relationship. When I work with vendors I want to be able to pick up the product at the amount that was agreed upon. Now, because of this issue, I am unable to trust this individual. Due to this lack of trust not only do I not see myself working with this company for future projects, but neither will I refer anyone to this company.

I am a business woman who operates my business with integrity. My word is my name. I expect that is how the vendors that I do business with to operate as well.

I have learned over the last eight years that if I make a mistake and mis-quote a product or service, it is an opportunity for me to learn for the next project. I never go back and change the charges unless the project/product scope changes. I know and operate under the principle that a good name is more desirable than great riches. My reputation and who I am is more important than a few dollars.

Your reputation and your name is a reflection of the level of trust people have in you. Business is based upon trust. If your business is not built on a foundation of trust, it will not flourish.

Resizing Pictures

Have you ever needed to quickly resize photos or artwork?

I know that I have.

Many times when I am developing a post for social media or other online items I need to resize a picture or file.

Two free tools that I enjoy using are:

http://quickthumbnail.com/

or

http://resizepic.com/

Both of these products work - depending upon the complexity of your project.

Let me know how these work for you.

Enjoy
j

The Power of Positive Thinking

In aviation, the word attitude means the angle at which the plane meets the wind, whether the wings are level with the horizon, and whether it is climbing or descending. The pilot who fails to take responsibility for the attitude of his aircraft is in serious trouble.

Likewise, any person who has not taken charge of his or her own beliefs and attitudes runs a similar risk. The key to cultivating and maintaining a positive mental attitude is to take control of your thinking and avoid negative minded people. It's a challenging task to develop a calm, focused mind, but well worth the effort.
Remember: Your attitude is not determined by circumstances, but by how you respond to those circumstances. You determine your attitude and you always have the choice to respond either positively or negatively.

Small Budget PR Earns High Rewards

The power of publicity is amazing. When you create news, you get your story out without paying excessive advertising fees. With a little imagination and some hard work, you can use a minimal publicity budget to generate impact.


Let's face it. With a modest budget, you'll never reach same success of large, national corporations. But at the same time, they may never generate the local penetration you can achieve through diligent work.
Consider these PR moves beyond the press release that gets you noticed and helps you build relationships.

* Host a seminar. People like to learn if they can pick up information that helps them do their jobs better. Consider hosting an after-work seminar on something relevant for the audience you want to reach and the time of year.

* Create speaking roles. Just about every organization looks for speakers to bring their members relevant information. Spending time on the internet lets you research associations, chambers, networking groups and other business organizations in your area. Offer these groups speech topics that are relevant and will get you on the agenda. Never promote yourself or your products during the speech. But always offer ways for people to follow up and ask you questions after the event.

* Donate to charities. I'm not talking just your financial contributions. Really donate your expertise. Non-profits often have a better success rate of getting in the paper simply because of their goodwill efforts and community contributions.

* Develop a newsletter. Even if you can't get into big publications, you can look big by having a customer newsletter. This tactic lets you share information about your catalog of stuff, highlight how other customers have worked with you and maintain an on-going customer-touch program. By reaching out to customers quarterly or monthly, you'll know you've got an effective way to stay top of mind.