WELCOME

I recently attended an MBA seminar, "Build your Brand through Public Relations." It was an excellent presentation focusing on how small businesses can promote themselves through press releases, networking, a company newsletter and association memberships. I especially appreciated the topic since it highlighted methods that were simple for small business owners (MBA members) to accomplish by themselves.

So, in the spirit of self-promotion, I would like to thank MBA member Salient Strategists for their time, effort and obvious preparation for the seminar. Check out their website for their newsletter, To the Point, which I found to be informative and fun to read.

If you would like to present a seminar for your fellow MBA members, I'll be sure to highlight it here in this column for you too.

Libby Beatty, Chair
MBA Board of Directors

NEWSWORTHY

Higher Energy Bills on the Way

You may or may not have heard about electricity rate caps nearing expiration in Pennsylvania in the next two years. Either way, it's time to start paying attention.

Here's what's happening now…Governor Rendell is urging legislators to act to protect businesses and consumers from possible energy bill increases in 2010 by as much as 60 percent. These increases are resulting from the electricity rate caps ending in 2010.

Rendell is suggesting a three-part remedy. The first part is to "embrace conservation whenever possible." Conservation helps both the energy consumer reduce their bill and "it also reduces total demand in the wholesale market which keeps price spikes to a minimum."

The second is to cut demand during peak hours. "According to the Department of Environmental Protection, if we could reduce demand by just 5 percent during the 100 most expensive hours of the year, we could save consumers $233 million in electricity costs."

The third calls on the Public Utility Commission to do a three-year phase-in of the increases.

The Governor reluctantly admitted that if no actions are taken he will support a bill to extend the current rate caps. He fears, however, that this would leave Pennsylvania residents in a different dilemma as future energy-consumption issues might not be able to be met.

Click here to read the September 9 press release to learn more.

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MARKETING

Prepare to Give Your Business a Boost This Holiday

Here are some marketing tactics to help your customers make the most out of the upcoming holiday season:

Promotions: Use the spirit of the season to your advantage and be generous with customer incentives like free shipping, free gift wrapping, sale prices and longer store hours.

Winter Website: Create a new, seasonal landing page for customers that respond to holiday e-mail and online promotions.

Personalized Gifts: Show some goodwill towards your important clients by sending personalized gifts.

Bring in a Guest Speaker

If your sales are in a slump it may be a good time to invite a guest speaker to shake things up and motivate you and your sales force. Here are some things to consider before you book a speaker:

The Objective: Lively and charismatic speakers can certainly captivate an audience, but be sure that you pick a speaker whose message is on par with business goals, not entertainment standards.

Plan in Advance: Professional speakers often charge more for speaking appearances if they are on short notice.

Customers: Customers are great guest speakers. They have lots of great insights to share and whether their feedback is positive or negative, their comments are always educational. Be sure to ask them to discuss their remarks with you in advance so there are no surprises.

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YOUR FINANCES

Do-It-Yourself Car Care Online

Some folks' extent of under-the-hood knowledge stops at the battery. But now with the use of your entrepreneurial spirit and online instructional how-to videos, you could save big money fixing your business and personal vehicles on your own.

Here are some sites that can help:

Auto-Facts.org: This site is a collection of articles and links perfect for anyone attempting to fix their vehicle themselves. You can even type a question and get a response from a professional mechanic.

VideoJug.com: Just search "car care" and you will be privy to an entire library of user-rated and reviewed auto-maintenance videos and vehicle-product reviews.

ExpertVillage.com: Another valuable resource for vehicle repair videos that ranges from recognizing tire wear to changing your windshield wipers. Search the database with a keyword.

A Better Way to Look at Your Small Business

If you use QuickBooks to keep track of your finances, there's a new website that gives you the power to view your business from a better perspective.

MyBizHomepage is a powerful tool that automatically uploads all of your business data from QuickBooks and gives you a "dashboard" view of operational factors like cash flow, receivables and inventory.

MyBizHomepage offers their service for free. Your personal page will be customizable and gives you many options for viewing and analyzing your data. Plus, it offers those who don't have a recent version of QuickBooks a cheap alternative that will provide the same dashboard view.

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FOR THE HOME-BASED BIZ

Your Home Office: How to Get it Right

Whether you're running a successful corporation or paying your bills, more and more people are devoting space to an office in their home. Working at home is not so much a lifestyle decision, it's a business issue, so a serious approach to its design is necessary. Here are a few tips:

This is a situation that demands organization. Be sure to put everything away after use, label file drawers and folders and keep your space clean and neat. If you can't find it, you can't use it.

Your desk chair is an investment in your future business success. If you're uncomfortable or have an aching back, your business will suffer too.

Wherever your home office is located - in the basement or an unused bedroom - pay attention to the lighting. After a day of reading papers and talking on the phone, you'll be glad you did.

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HUMAN RESOURCES

Using Strategy to Break Routine

The day-to-day routine of running a business is necessary in order to accomplish goals. Not all days are the same though, and there comes a time when auto-drive needs to be shifted to manual to navigate unknown roads.

In order to keep your team and yourself safe from the monotony of business-as-usual, regularly challenge your routines. By addressing your strategic issues on a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly basis your employees will have to contend with the changing atmosphere surrounding your business.

Here are three questions to use to challenge your staff:

1. What were our strategic accomplishments since our last meeting?

2. What were the ways in which we missed our goals since our last meeting?

3. What have we learned about our strategy since our last meeting?

These questions will not only get your group thinking about objective goals, but it will challenge them to see the benefit of shifting strategies.

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IT

A Quick and Easy Way to Store Data

If you are constantly working on the go and are interested in saving a bit of money, a new solution for data storage may already be in the palm of your hand.

Popular hand-held electronic devices like iPods, digital cameras, GPS devices and smart phones have the ability to store various kinds of data. That means that the documents, presentations and images you create can be saved without the cost or hassle of owning additional data storage devices.

In many cases storing data is as easy as plugging your electronic device into your computer and dragging your files onto it.

CAUTION: Be careful of what types of business information you store on small devices that are prone to being lost or stolen. Also, use a password or encryption option whenever you can.

Microsoft Software: Subscribe and Save

When's the last time you updated your Microsoft Office suite of programs? And how many of those Microsoft programs do you use on a regular basis? Well, there's good news for those of us who ignore all of the other Microsoft programs except Microsoft Word.

Microsoft's Open Value Subscription Program allows small businesses to purchase software on a subscription basis, with the option of saving on programs that wouldn't be used or would only be needed for a specific purpose or time. There are additional savings for businesses who already possess current versions or recently updated versions of software.

This kind of flexibility can help any small business that utilizes five or more desktop systems curb their IT expenses. To learn more go to Microsoft's website and search "Microsoft Open Value Overview."

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NEW MEMBERS

When our member base increases there is more of everything: more creative networking, more benefits and more experienced, enthusiastic business owners. All move our members toward growth, success and the entrepreneurial spirit.

Click here to meet our newest small business partners.

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Sponsors of MBA's AR Online Newsletter

Structa-Bond, Inc.

(610) 292-0578
Specializing in repairs to all water leaks in poured concrete foundations

Sun East Federal Credit Union

(610) 485-2960, extension 217
Offer a great employee benefit

Unless specifically indicated, MBA does not intend mention of companies, products or services discussed in this publication to be construed to be endorsements. The information in this publication is offered as examples that may be useful to our small business readers. Please consult with an industry professional before implementing any of the tips or subscribing to any of the services described above.