WELCOME

What’s Happening?

What’s been going on at your small business? Do you feel like your company has great products; if only you could get the word out, customers would buy? Well, if you think your company is way too small to submit a press release, think again. Newspapers continually hunt for stories that may not make the front page, but might be perfect for a human interest story in the Sunday paper. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Think of an angle. You might not even believe there is one. How about the auto repair business owner, celebrating 20 years in business who wrote about cars and how they’ve changed over the years. Or how a bakery changed over their entire operation to include the use of computers. You get the idea.

Do your research. Find out who covers what at the local and city papers and make sure you know if they want your release sent as an e-mail. Most do, since they then can use your electronic copy if they choose.

And send a picture. It will make your copy eye-catching and, as they say, it’s worth a thousand words. Good luck!

See you in the funny papers,

Libby Beatty, Chair
MBA Board of Directors

NEWSWORTHY

Bill in Congress Addresses Credit Union Limits

Even as bank lending to small businesses decreased in the last three years, lending by credit unions increased. Now, credit unions want Congress to loosen the limits on how much the nonprofit financial institutions can lend to businesses.

A bill introduced by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) on March 8 would let credit unions increase their small business lending, now capped at 12 percent of assets, to 27 percent.

Source: Bloomberg Business Week

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INSURANCE

The following articles have been provided by The Administrators, Inc., Midlantic Business Alliance’s endorsed insurance administrator.

Start Taking Healthy Steps Toward Better Living

If you're one of the millions of Americans who use Facebook or Twitter, you already know what great tools they are for keeping in touch with friends, family, and colleagues. But you may be surprised to know that they can also be great resources for improving your health.

Like the Independence Blue Cross page on Facebook and Twitter, you will unlock a world of easy-to-follow recipes, expert advice, and practical everyday nutrition and health tips. You can find a whole new approach to making healthy lifestyle changes, one step at a time. It is called IBX Healthy Steps.

IBC's Facebook page features insights from local celebrity chef and dietitian Katie Cavuto Boyle, MS, RD. Katie is the nutrition consultant to the Philadelphia Phillies and will show you how to make some of her favorite healthy meals and share her secrets to healthy eating.

Social Media can Help You Take the First Step

Making healthy changes doesn't happen all at once, and it doesn't mean you have to swear off everything you love either. Change takes time and small consistent steps in the right direction.

Check out IBC on Facebook and Twitter and uncover a world of Healthy Steps:

• Receive health and wellness tips that can help you improve your well-being.
• Connect with other health-minded fans.
  
• Learn how to make healthy, simple, great-tasting meals.

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MARKETING

Developing Dynamite Presentation Skills

By Ken Abrams

What’s the difference between a dry lecture and dynamic presentation? Whether you’re delivering a speech, conducting a workshop, presenting a new product idea or leading a teleclass, the answer is still the same: interaction.

When speaking, the goal is to connect to your audience in a personal way so your message will have more of an impact. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to constantly ask questions and aggressively involve your listeners verbally. What it does mean, however, is that you have to build a rapport with them. Although this is developed partially by the verbal content of your presentation, a good portion of it comes from less obvious—and often nonverbal—elements.

Below is a list of ways to build rapport…while still being discreet about it.

1. Start off with a bang. Begin your presentation with an interesting introduction. Introductions warm up an audience not only to your topic, but to you as a speaker as well. It’s useful to view your introduction as a snapshot of what a listener can expect from the rest of your presentation. First impressions are powerful, so make the most of yours.
   
   
2. Speak to “one” person. When speaking to a group, it’s easy to get impersonal. To avoid this, imagine you’re speaking to only one person at a time. Powerful presenters have a way of making each listener feel spoken to directly.
   
   
3. Make eye contact. It’s pretty basic stuff. If you look people in the eye, you connect with them more directly. Of course, if you’re delivering your presentation or leading a class over the phone or Internet, your voice will have to convey this element of “I see you.”
   
   
4. Control your speed. Although it’s obvious advice, it’s easy to forget when you’re nervous: don’t talk too fast or too slowly. Talking too fast will make you appear uneasy, and listeners won’t be able to catch everything you say. Talking too slowly makes you appear boring and dull…yawn! Try to find that middle ground where your natural personality is free to express itself.
   
   
5. Shake it up. Vary the volume and rate of your speech—appropriate to your point, of course. When we talk to our friends one-on-one, we naturally vary these elements as our emotions and emphases shift. If you do this in your presentation, you’ll come across as more human. And more interesting.
   
   
6. Don’t be afraid to pause. Strategically placed pauses make a point more dramatic and interesting, and as a result, more memorable.
   
   
7. Humor always helps. Although you’re aiming for a professional image, who says professionals shouldn’t laugh? If you can make a joke (a funny one only!) or tell a humorous anecdote, go for it. Humor is the ultimate magnet in that it makes you more “real” and likeable.
   
   
8. It’s about them, not you. Instead of simply conveying information and the things you do (explaining features), couch this information in the form of a benefit. In other words, make it clear how it will make a positive difference in your listener’s life.

“Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.”
—Harold B. Melchart

Ken Abrams, MCC, business, personal, and executive coach.
Phone: (610) 240-4857 Cell: (484) 620-6101
Web: www.Kenabrams.com

Build Your Business Lists

Good marketing includes maintaining a strong contact list. Grow your list by taking advantage of free sites that bring together people with related interests:

• For a list of some of the most popular social networking sites, most of which are free, try the Wikipedia list.
  
  
• For link building, one of the best is del.icio.us.com
  
  
• LinkedIn – extremely popular for business networking, is free to join. Free options include posting your profile, viewing profiles of other members, access to job postings, links to your website and a limited number of free “introductions” to other members. (Full use of LinkedIn’s bells and whistles requires a fee.)

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YOUR FINANCES

Off the Cuff Savings

There is a difference between finding savings and creating savings. Instead of constantly surveying the horizon for a sale try taking a different approach to using the money you already have:

Better Budgeting: Smarter purchase planning helps create a clearer cash flow and gives you time to find and exploit opportunities. For example, when traveling across country or counties, plan multiple meetings or deliveries so you can economize cost of fuel and time. Product and supply inventory checklists help you track usage so you can make fewer orders with smarter decisions.

Routine Rebellion: Questioning regular purchasing habits is a powerful practice. Ask employees how they would save on supplies. Ask suppliers about estimates, product information, and potential discounts. Don’t be shy about it - the more questions you ask, the more answers you get.

Share Work & Reward: Success even presents opportunities to save. Instead of renting a larger business space, why not share a functioning office space with a company who is cutting costs (just make sure they’re not going bankrupt). More sales may also mean more sales reps. Consider hiring fewer reps in the beginning in exchange for a larger commission rate.

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FOR THE HOME-BASED BIZ

Home Business Tax Stretegies

Aside from the obvious home business
tax write-offs there are some less obvious strategies you can employ to take advantage of your home business status:

1. Rent Space in Your House to Your Business: Be sure the space is determined precisely and kept within the average price range according to location and size. Then report the income on your Schedule E of your personal tax return. You can apply those deductions like utilities and maintenance against your income.
   
   
2. Spouse and Shareholder: If you make your spouse a shareholder in your Sub S corporation, he or she can receive distributions without payroll taxes. This will also make your spouse a legal owner of the business so be sure you’re ready to take that step.
   
   
3. Disregarded Entity Status: This option applies to single member LLCs disregarding your status for the purposes of income taxes. Simply file a Schedule C and your record keeping will be vastly simplified. This is a good option for those who don’t have the time or the ability to keep their records straight. Just be sure that you document your income and expenses to back up your claims.

Home Biz on the Go

Home business owners do a lot of business on the go or set in a virtual atmosphere. Here are some tips to help manage your time and protect your business from the hazards of virtual and mobile workspaces:

• Back up Your Work: Working on the go may be time efficient, but it increases the risk of losing critical business data. Back up your work every day with an external hard drive or on an online data sharing site.
  
  
• Give Face Time: Face-to-face contact is as essential to home businesses as any other type of business. Aside from getting out of the house, meetings help to solidify client relationships, shake up your routine and spark innovation.
  
  
• IT Plan: Unless your expertise is information technology, the time will come when you need fast and reliable technical expertise. Find a consultant with experience in your industry with small businesses and with the software/hardware you are using.
  
  
• Virtual Employees: Trying to manage employees from a distance is a challenge. Set clear goals and realistic time limits. Also, be sure to have a way to contact each other quickly. When you give your employees the freedom to work without constantly checking in, their worth will be revealed quickly.

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HUMAN RESOURCES

Buffing Lack-luster Employees

Whether you’re faced with a perpetually late employee or someone who needs to show a bit more hustle, sometimes it’s faster and cheaper to talk it out rather than replacing him or her. Here are some tips for addressing the issue:

Open & Honest: Have a level-headed conversation to calmly and clearly express your observations and concerns. Try to approach your employee with the positive slant of problem solver: avoid placing blame by using phrases like, “When you do this…” and instead use phrases like “When this happens….”

Let Them Share: Simple non-leading questions give your employee the opportunity to talk about their personal and work life without feeling the need to defend. You may find legitimate reasons for their behavior and discover ways to help them feel and work better while strengthening their bond with your business.

Moving Forward: Without being threatening, explain your policy about expected performance protocol and how certain behavior can lead to consequences like wage garnishing, loss of perks or eventual termination. Make it clear that you are on their side, and you want to keep them on the team.

What Employees Want

Employees need more than sweet perks and big paychecks to stay happy. Here are some of the less tangible things that you can give your employees to help them stay happy and productive:

1. Purpose: Employees want to know that the work they do makes a difference. If you give employees the opportunity to share their ideas and the ideas are implemented, it helps them feel valued and important to the business. You can even create time specifically for employees to brainstorm and share ideas about how to improve business.
   
   
2. Goals: Measurable goals set at regular intervals keep employees focused and motivated. Allow your employees to meet these goals on their own. This will help them work as a team and build solidarity.
   
   
3. Independence: Allowing your employees autonomy when it comes to getting work done can help boost their productivity. This kind of freedom instills a sense of trust and a chance to exercise creativity, which typically makes workers happier and more productive.

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IT

Putting the “Wit” in Twitter

If you haven’t used Twitter to supplement your marketing and customer relations efforts or want to step up your efforts, here are some ideas for getting the most from Twitter:

Contests: Contests create incentives for people to get involved and Twitter makes participating fast and easy. Contests like scavenger hunts or product/service ideas are great ways to stay in touch, to keep your business on their minds and to gather valuable data.

Sales: Tweets allow you just enough space to announce “last minute” sales and include a link to the item on your website. Time sensitive sales announcements help motivate buyers, and the ease of clicking the link to see the products can boost conversion rates.

On the Go Info: Mobile businesses or businesses that host events can use tweets to give customers updated information about locations and times without missing a beat.

Avoiding Common E-commerce Mistakes

Having a fully functioning e-commerce site means more than having all the bells and whistles – it means offering a fast and reliable shopping experience. Here are some things to avoid:

• Too Many Dynamic Pages: Dynamic pages are animated and updated with headlines, quotes and ad blocks that can take seconds to load. That may not sound like much, but some users will wander away from your site if page loading is slow.
  
  
• Too Quick to Buy: When performance slows due to high traffic many web operators conclude that it is a hardware problem and recommend purchasing new servers to boost capacity. A more experienced and capable IT consultant can redesign software or fix the current format. A smarter and cheaper alternative is to buy more memory for the database server instead of buying a new one.
  
  
• Compatibility & Usability: It may require some tweaking but try to get your e-commerce site compatible to as many web browsers as possible. Create a survey or a focus group that can give you helpful feedback about your site. Sometimes web designers are too close to the project to give you unbiased feedback.

Topicfire Finds Your Hot Topic

Topicfire has been described as a real-time new aggregator. It functions like an RSS feed except that it filters through stories to deliver only the most popular ones to you.

The format is simple. The main page is composed of the most popular stories updated in real-time. The stories are chosen based on the amount of comments they generated at their original post. The main page has a slider that allows you to filter which content you want to see on a 1-10 scale.

Topicfire is built on Facebook Connect which makes it easy to connect articles with your profile so you can share with others. You can also Tweet any story with a single click. This allows businesses that are social network savvy to find and share relevant news with customers in an instant.

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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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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.