Publicity Nailing a Media Interview, Part III (Staying on Topic).txt

In a media interview, always stick to your main points without rambling or digressing. Practice this when you rehearse.

Sometimes, when you are doing a great job of keeping on topic, the reporter is leading to you talk about different topics, some of which you aren't as knowledgeable about. If the reporter leads you into different areas, go there only if it suits your needs and you are comfortable there.

One advanced technique you can use in a tough interview is "bridging." Bridging is simply steering the interview back to your topic. Going down any side roads a reporter pursues is usually a bad idea – even if the detour is innocuous, it takes you off your main points. You may find, when the article is published or the interview airs, that the only comments of yours that reach the general public are those about a topic that you don't know much about. This isn't going to help your marketing efforts at all.

Don’t be afraid to bridge. If the reporter asks, “Well, how do they feel about that in Argentina?” and you have nothing to say about Argentina, diplomatically acknowledge that the question is valid. For example, say "That's a good question. I don't focus on Argentina in my practice, but I can tell you what my clients are saying." Then move back to your topic – gently but firmly.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

[tags]financial planners publicity, financial planners marketing, marketing, publicity, pr[/tags]

Publicity Nailing a Media Interview, Part II (Crisis Management).txt

We'd all like reporters to ask us about our career successes and personal triumphs—heck, we'd all like anyone to ask us about those. But reporters must look out for their clients, the reading public. Think about it from your own perspective as an investor—when you read a story about a company, you want to know that the reporter has asked difficult questions, not just relied on the PR hype.

So don't get offended when reporters ask tough or skeptical questions. It’s their job. Chances are an unhappy customer, unwilling prospect, or unfriendly rival has dished out worse to you!

No matter how uncomfortable the line of questioning, never, ever, mislead, attempt to conceal crucial facts, tell an untruth, or otherwise try to manipulate the media. We all know that lying is wrong, but that's not the only reason that I always oppose it. Aside from any moral considerations, misleading the media always backfires in the end. Sometimes, way sooner.

I have seen countless examples of this. Remember Watergate? Very often, the fib starts out early, as an insignificant story. But it tends to get magnified a little down the road – and pretty soon, a minor embarrassment turns into a major fiasco. Eventually, it's the lie that becomes the story, not the original story itself.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

[tags]financial planners publicity, financial planners marketing, marketing, publicity, pr[/tags]

Publicity Nailing a Media Interview, Part I.txt

The most important thing to remember for any interview: stay on topic. I ask clients to repeat this like a mantra before they go on the air, or even when on the phone with a reporter.

A print reporter gets maybe 700 words to do your story. A TV or radio reporter has two minutes. So your interview shouldn't be hours long.

Don’t give them more than they need. It’s too overwhelming for them, and can divert the story to a tangent. Tangents have a place – in intellectual dialogue; when you’re talking among colleagues. Remember this formula always: in mediaworld, almost all the time, tangent = someone else’s story, not yours, getting talked about.

Sure, you can become a reporter’s friend by steering them to new resources, trends, and information. But don’t feel obligated to point out all opposing points of view, or to lead them to those who may dispute you. Who needs that?

Remember... becoming buddies with the press is a good thing – but our ultimate goal is to attract prospects and clients.

To avoid these pitfalls, practice your answers to the questions you expect before the interview. Whether it’s on- or off-camera, your interview has no “do-overs.” So make your mistakes while practicing for it.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

[tags]financial planners publicity, financial planners marketing, marketing, publicity, pr[/tags]

Publicity - Use This System to Track Publicity Progress.txt

Tracking your correspondence with reporters, via phone or email, is important for two reasons. First of all, promises to follow-up can slip between the cracks of daily business and cost you a change at free publicity. Second, you don't ever want to contact a reporter twice about the same story. You will immediately destroy your credibility.

In my years as a public relations professional, I've developed a good system that financial planners can use to track contacts with the media.

It's simple. Just two logs that you can keep in a paper notepad, or in a spreadsheet program on your computer.

Keep one log to track reporters that you have contacted. It should have these three columns: A column for the names of the reporters you’ve contacted, a column that lists what each reporter is interested in, and then a column describing when/why to follow up next.

Plug these reminders into your calendar – without this tool, you may make the critical mistake of forgetting to follow-up.

Keep a second log to track reporters you’re going to contact. It should have these three columns: A column for the reporters' names, a column that lists their topic interests, and another column with a target date when you want to contact them.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

[tags]financial planners publicity, financial planners marketing, marketing, publicity, pr[/tags]

Publicity - Tips on Dealing With the Media.txt

You thought of it, you researched it, you wrote it. So you own your story. At least you do until you send it to the media.

At that point, they are free to do whatever they want with the information you gave them.

Your job from then on: control and communicate it to the maximum. Offer new information if you find it. Steer them to resources that may help them flesh out the story. Assure them that you will be available for follow-ups, day or night.

But they own the media outlet. Their job: creating the story as it will appear in their newspaper, magazine or over the airwaves.

Unless you are authoring an article to appear under your own byline, don’t expect – or request – approval rights, an advance peek, or any changes. They may never call again if you do.

Occasionally, a reporter will offer to show you the story before it runs. That’s different. It’s usually because they want to check facts, or ensure that they have quoted you correctly.

Always say yes if they initiate this offer. Even if you have 12 meetings tomorrow morning, and are undergoing surgery after lunch. This is a chance to make yourself sound as knowledgeable and intelligent as possible to the thousands of potential clients that will read the article.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

[tags]financial planners publicity, financial planners marketing, marketing, publicity, pr[/tags]

Publicity - How to Write a Headline That Will Garner Free Publicity.txt

Taking your ad and turning it into paragraph-style prose is not a press release – chances are it will only lead the publisher to call and invite you to run it as a paid ad. A press release is for news or for information about a topic the audience needs to know.

Any press release that reads too much like an ad will likely lead a media person to forward it to the advertising department.

For example, here's a headline that sounds too much like an ad:

"Financial Planner Chet Thompson Saved Families $600,000 On Estate Taxes Last Year"

This headline is attention-getting, but for the wrong reasons. It doesn't tell the media person anything other than that Chet Thompson is a good financial planner. This isn't news. But that same headline can easily be rewritten to sound more "newsy":

"Estate Planning Tips Saved Local Families More Than $600,000 Last Year"

This same information is now a headline that will grab a media person's attention. It suggests questions that their readers will be interested in: What tips?

Remember—you are never the news. News is information. As much as possible, keep ego tripping out of a press release and focus on the information that will help improve the lives of readers/listeners/viewers.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

[tags]financial planners publicity, financial planners marketing, marketing, publicity, pr[/tags]

Profit and Loss Account Basics.txt

What is a profit and loss account?

The profit and loss account (p&l) is usually presented as a statement and it shows the trading activity and associated expenditure of an organisation over a defined period of time.






A typical p&l will contain the following:

Sales

This is the turnover of the business, the main source of income from sales of products or services. This figure is always net of taxes as these are payable to the government and do not form part of the income of the business.

Purchases (stock/inventory)

Purchases are the items of stock you buy in order to sell on to customers. A basic accounting principle is that income is exactly matched against the cost of generating that income. In this regard the stock or inventory on hand at the end of the accounting period is always deducted from the total purchases cost. These stock items will be used to generate future sales and will be matched against those sales in the next period.

Sales related expenditure

These costs are those that are directly incurred in the process of making a sale to a customer. They include items such as sales commission, promotional costs and courier charges.

Overheads

Lastly there are the overheads of the business. These are the costs incurred on the rest of the business that is not directly involved with the selling process. Examples of overhead costs are: admin staff salaries, lighting and heating, office stationery, computer maintenance and legal and accountancy fees.

Two versions of the profit and loss account

In published accounts the p&l account has a standard format, this is to aid understanding and interpretation of the information. The accounts are typically known as Financial (or Statutory) accounts and are subject to accounting and legal governing principles.

However, to really understand how your business is performing you need to prepare a fully detailed p&l account, this is an expanded version of the published accounts and usually has extra information such as ratio analysis and key performance indicators.

This version is typically referred to as the ‘management accounts’ simply because they are figures intended for management and not external publication. Therefore, there are no regulatory guidelines on their composition to worry about.

Management accounts are the tool you need to have in order to see if your business is profitable and are normally prepared on a regular basis, usually monthly, for each of your product lines. The p&l is a central part of the management accounts package.

Regular review is necessary because you need to be aware of areas not meeting targets as soon as possible; so that you give yourself time to take corrective action before the end of your financial year. For instance, if a regular client has started placing orders erratically it may be that on investigation, you find they are testing out one of your competitors. This gives you an opportunity to carry out some special promotions or re-negotiate the deal with your client to win their business back from your competitor.

In addition, you will find budgeting is a valuable tool for your business. A budget is a financial plan for the year ahead. Creation of a budget allows you to review all areas of your business both to ensure their existence is justified and that you are making the most of your assets or resources.

During the year you compare your actual results to your budget and investigate where results have not turned out according to plan. Examples of problems could be cost overruns due to inefficient ordering or use of more expensive components unnecessarily. Again, this review process gives you time to make changes before problem areas run out of control.

About the author:

Trevor Sadowski has worked in finance departments for the past 23 years and has been a member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA) since 1994.

Trevor currently provides contract accountancy support through short-term placements or interim
management in the UK. To find out more, about the accountancy services he provides visit his web site at http://www.moveaheadonline.com

[tags]profit and loss account,accountancy,bookkeeping,financial statements,management accounts[/tags]

Pricing for Bottom Line Profit.txt

When someone asks you, or you ask yourself, what your “profit” is on a product, on a project or on a job, how do you respond?

To help understand the question better, consider the following theoretical example:

You sold your last (remodeling) job for $12,000. You used $4,000 in materials and 250 man-hours of people you pay $20 per hour wages to.

If you were asked what you made on this job how would you respond? Would you say:

A) $12,000

B) $3,000

C) Other ___________ (fill in)

In the example above:

If you chose A, you equate profit with sales revenue. Hopefully by now, most of us have been cured of that error (but not all of us I’ll bet!).

If you chose B, you equate profit with the difference between sales and direct costs. Direct costs are those that we pay for the materials we sell or install plus what direct labor costs us. In the example, there were $4,000 in material costs and $5,000 in labor costs (250 x $20). The “profit” was, therefore, $12,000 - $4,000 - $5,000 = $3,000.

Really? What about that nasty little thing called overhead?

If you chose C) and tried to fill in another number, that’s interesting because the fact is not enough information is given to answer the question properly!

We have NO IDEA OF WHAT OVERHEAD is in the example above; let alone how to account for it in our pricing.

Components of a Price:

We can build up a price from its components using information already established in our financial statements. A price can be constructed from its four components as follows:

Direct Cost of Materials

+ Direct Cost of Labor (Plant, Construction, Delivery, Commission or Other)

+ Overhead Absorption (on a proportionate basis to sales) (Indirect Costs)

+ PROFIT

= Sales Price (either unit price or sales dollars)

Normally, we can establish or estimate the Direct costs fairly accurately. But what about Overhead? The simple way to do this is as follows:

Go back to your Income Statement and separate costs (if not done by your accountant – and often they aren’t) into Variable or that which is related directly to sales volume (materials, purchases, direct labor, freight, delivery) and Fixed, typically not related directly to sales volume (Advertising, Computer Expense, Insurance, Office Wages & Salaries, Officer’s Compensation, Payroll Taxes, Rent or Mortgage Interest, Telephone, Utilities, Waste Management and others).

Ratio Fixed Costs to Variable Costs (over a reasonable period, say 3, 6 or 12 months). This is your OVERHEAD FACTOR. If the ratio is .25 for example, it simply means you need $0.25 (25 cents) to absorb overhead for every dollar spent on direct costs.

Now, let’s go back to the example above and assume their OHF to be .25 (25%). Further let’s say they are looking for a 15% NET Profit on sales (to match their budget). The price then is:

Direct Costs - Materials: $4,000

Direct Costs – Labor: $5,000 (250x$20/Hour)

Total Direct $9,000

Overhead Absorption: $2,250 (.25 x $9,000)

Total Costs: $11,250 ($9,000 + $2,250)

Profit $1,985 (estimated)

Price to Make 15%: $13,235 ($11,250 + $1,985)

Profitability Check: Profit%=Profit/Sales=$1,985/$13,235 = 15% √

But they actually sold the job for $12,000, so their real net profit at the bottom line was = ($12,000-$11,250)/$12,000 = $750/$12,000 = 6%.

But, You Say, I Can’t Price That Way, the Market Won’t Bear It!

Nevertheless, this is the way to relate pricing to bottom line profit, either actual or proposed. If you can’t achieve the price that results in a reasonable (and budgeted) profit, then you, as owner/CEO/President MUST: lower the cost of your products by better purchasing or more efficient manufacturing, lower your overhead, change the markets in which you participate or change the offer (more value).

Just like ignorance of the law is no defense, neither is lack of knowledge on how to price for profit an excuse to accept low profitability.

The arithmetic above only tells you WHAT you have to do, not HOW. The how is left to your business and marketing plans.

Robert A. Normand is Executive Director of the Institute for Small Business Management (http://www.isbminc.com) and author of "Entreprenewal!, The Six Step Recovery Program for Small Business" (http://www.entreprenewal.com). Mr. Normand has served as principal management consultant for more than 100 businesses ranging from $500,000 to $50,000,000 in annual sales and has owned and operated several small businesses of his own in diverse industries. Mr. Normand’s small business philosophy is premised on the belief that small business management skills can be developed by busy entrepreneurs using readily available information, tools and procedures not found in business schools or formal degree programs. He can be reached by telephone at 941-330-0889 or by mail at 3751 Almeria Avenue, Suite A4, Sarasota, Florida 34239.

[tags]pricing, profitability, fixed costs, variable costs, financial statements[/tags]

No Magic, Just Business.txt

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

I started this article with a note from Bonnie Hersey because I want to make the point that it isn't magic that makes a network marketing business work. What makes a business work (network marketing or any business) are good foundational business tools. Bonnie calls them "Savvy Sponsoring simple but direct concepts" and she's absolutely correct.

So many times people come to me hoping for the "magic words" to get everyone to say "Yes." But the big truth is there are no magic words. There are excellent simple tools that make every working day productive.

But if that's true, why do so many people seem to struggle in Network Marketing? Why does network marketing have the less than stellar reputation it has? I think the reason for that is we are often our own worst enemy. Here's why.

In everything I do my underlying goal is to get you to move into strong entrepreneurial thinking. But I run into a fair amount of resistance because of the notion that we don't want to be like Corporate America. Somehow the idea that running your home business like a real business translated into "being Corporate America."

Beware of this. Be really careful if you're a Corporate America ex-patriot or if you just repeated the phrase "not like Corporate America" that you don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Here's what I mean.

I made my mind up when I was 23 (a lot of years ago) I didn't ever want to be a part of Corporate America again. I didn't want someone else to determine my future or tell me when to work or when not to work. So I started out on my entrepreneurial path. But that didn't mean that I jettisoned good solid business foundations. I just jettisoned the jerks and the nonsense rules.

Do you see the difference? All businesses need good foundational business tools. And I mean all businesses. That includes knowing when you're going to show up for work and when the workday ends. You need to have real brick and mortar business hours. The difference now; it is your business, you determine those hours.

You also determine the hours you spend with your family - away from the business. None of this constant double tasking with the phone stuck to your ear. Or being like Pavlov's dog and answering the phone every time it rings. (Think about that for a minute. Is the business you're in so life-threatening you need to respond immediately every time the phone rings? And yes there are ways to create these boundaries without your team falling apart. In fact it will make it stronger.)

Now that you determine your future it means having a clear idea of exactly what it is you're going to do in the time that makes you money. Those activities (I call them money making activities) typically come out of a financial projection each month. Yes, I know Corporate America has a plan, map, goals but that's not a good enough reason to jettison them - not if you want your business to grow.

First you determine what kind of volume you need to generate in order to make the money you want to make. And then you determine the exact activity you need to do in order to make the money. This may sound difficult but that's only because you don't know the simple steps that Bonnie now has under her belt. Anyone can learn to do this.

What we don't have to do that Corporate America typically does, is turn your working environment into a dog eat dog competitive arena with our focus on results results results. Do you see the difference? Keep reading for a more clear idea.

There are ways to have good strong challenging financial goals and enjoy the process of each day as we walk through our daily lives. Don't believe me? Read Bonnie's note again. It all depends where your focus is. Just because we have a financial goal and the activity lined out to get to that goal, doesn't mean we need to make ourselves nuts or put high pressure on ourselves (or our team) to achieve the financial results.

If this sounds like the kind of business you'd like to run:

1. Simple sound business foundations for you and your team. You start every recruit using these foundations the day they sign up. (Think about that for a minute. Every person you start begins their business with the right tools to make their business productive, enjoyable and fulfilling from the get-go. In fact they are in money making activity within the first 24 to 48 hours they come into your business. No more burnout. No more pushing them into action or trying to keep them in action. It's just natural!)

2. A friendly calendar that gives you time for you, your family and your business. How would your team like that?

3. Financial goals centered around easy to accomplish money making activity. Do I hear cheers? ;-)

4. All the emphasis on how you're doing the activity rather than your results. The pressure is off and the real magic can take place. Yes this means having fun and learning while doing your business.

STOP here a moment to reflect on that. If your emphasis is on learning and having fun with everything you do in your business (or your life for that matter) what do you think happens to the results? Do they go up or down? Let's see, you're having fun and you’re learning. Is that a combination for success for failure? How attractive is that? Would you like to learn how do to that?

Jillian Middleton is a Mentor Coach and Trainer, and author of the courses "5 Steps to Working Less and Making More in Network Marketing" and Setting Up Your Store Hours. As creator of the "Savvy Sponsoring Strategies" Program, Jillian trains network marketers and direct sales consultants the same strategies she used to build two 6-figure network marketing businesses in 5 years. For more information on Jillian or her programs visit http://www.SavvySponsoring.com

[tags]network, marketing, business, financial goals, calendar[/tags]

New Year Resolutions to a Better Financial Future.txt

There could not be a better time to mull over the changes needed
in our life style than at the beginning of a New Year. This is
also a good time to set yearly goals and make resolutions. Each
year, according to statistics, almost a third of us make some
kinds of New Year Resolutions. Interestingly, although financial
future is our main cause of anxiety, our personal finance,
according to surveys, gets only to the fifth place in the list
of most common New Year resolutions.

For those of us who are still in the process of making New Year
resolutions, my suggestion is to give high priority to financial
aspects.

Here are some resolution ideas that may change your financial
future over the course of time.

Saving

Lets make one thing clear! What ever amount of money you make
it’s probably never enough! The way our consumer psychology
works is our demand increases along with our income. This makes
saving really a problematic task! Some people do have inborn
ability to save willingly, but most have to force themselves.
If you are one of these people, who find saving a difficult
thing, you should consider the methods described below.

• Commit to yourself that each month you will set aside
minimum ten percent of your income for investment
purposes.

• Make a strict habit of depositing 10 percent of all your
incomes directly to your saving account.

• No matter what happens, don’t give up.

You might argue that your income is not enough to make any kind
of savings. Believe me, once you try putting away 10 percent of
your earnings, you will see that this really does not have any
serious impact on your budget.
So your first resolution is to save ten percent of all your
incomes month after month.
There is hardly any point to save if you don’t put your money
to work for yourself! So, once you resolved to save, you need
to invest your money wisely.

Credit cards and other consumer loans

According to New York Times through out the last decade use of
credit cards has increased dramatically. The number of the
people having credit cards raised about 75 percent from 82
million in 1990 to 144 million in 2003. However, the debt
burden that they carry had grown 350 percent from US$338 billion
to an astounding US$1.5 trillion. In 2003, according to the same
report, average household carried a debt of US$ 7,520 in
comparison to US$2,550 in 1990.

This means that credit card loans are becoming serious problems
for average Joe. That’s why the first step of your investment
strategy should be to get rid of your consumer debts- especially
your credit card loans. Most credit cards have horrendously
expensive interest rates – normally, 18 percent and over.
If you are one of those people, who pay only minimum payment
amount each month to their credit cards’ debt, you are making a
great mistake. Check out the calculator at
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/MinPayment.asp
to see how much you are loosing by not eliminating your credit
card debt burden.

If you are looking for financially sound future, take a hard
look at your credit cards and resolve to do the followings:

• From the savings you started to make, pay off maximum
amount of your credit cards’ debts until you completely
eliminate them.

• If you are unable to pay off the whole amount at once,
don’t just pay the minimum amount required; pay out as
much as you can over that limit.

• Shop for credit cards with minimum interest rates – which
should not be more than 12 percent – and switch to them.

• Use credit cards strictly for convenience only. Don’t
charge to your credit cards unless you know for sure
that you will be able to pay it off right away.

• Minimize the quantity of credit cards you are holding.
There is no reason to have more than three credit cards.

Same goes for your other consumer loans like student, car, etc.

Mortgage

The second step of your investment strategy should be to
evaluate your mortgage payments. There are several very simple
ways of reducing your payment time dramatically. Used scrupulously
these methods can lower a 30-year mortgage to 10-15 years.

• Instead of making one single payment each month, every
two weeks pay out half the monthly payment. The idea
behind this is, since you are making 26 payments in a
year – each one of them carrying 50 percent of your
monthly payment – this is equivalent to 13 monthly
payments. You are generating an extra month’s payment
each year, which in turn will reduce your mortgage term
substantially.

• Whenever possible, each month try paying ten percent
more than you are supposed to.

• Whenever you manage to make some extra earnings, use a
portion of that to pay down your mortgage.

The mortgage calculator located at
http://www.mortgages-loans-calculators.com/Calculator-Mortgage
-Payoff.asp will help you to see your progress.

Keep track of your expenses

If you don’t do it yet, resolve yourself to keep an expense
ledger of all spending. Just the mere act of jotting down all
your expenditure will reduce your expenses up to 20 percent.
The reason is when you start keeping track of the money you
spend, you become more careful and discerning in your buying
decisions, which in turn help you cutting back and saving hard
earned money.

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present
CEO of Rusbiz.com – a Global B2B Exchange with solutions to
create e-catalog, Web store, business process management and
other features to run a business online. You can read various
articles written by Nowshade Kabir at http://ezine.rusbiz.com.

[tags]Nowshade Kabir[/tags]