How can joint ventures boost local small business results

How Can Joint Ventures Boost Local Small Business Results?

If you own a business and would like to get more profit from less work, then you definitely want to start doing joint ventures. Find out how in this article.

A joint venture in business is simply a triple win, or a win-win-win. It happens when 2 (or more) business owners do a deal that not only benefits both businesses, but also serves the customers. There MUST be a win-win-win.

Let me give an example so you can understand the power of joint ventures. There are many kinds of joint ventures that you can organize. This example is for local business owners. Imagine this scenario. Sam owns a dog-friendly restaurant. Sarah owns a gourmet dog cookie business. They form a joint venture that works like this.

Sarah puts a few of her fancy treats into cute little bags. She includes a business card, of course, and she also includes a coupon. maybe it is a 10% discount or maybe it is a gift with purchase offer. She brings the treat bags over to Sam’s restaurant each week. Whenever a dog-owning diner comes to eat, Sam makes their dog very happy by giving the cookies. Any dog owner is likely to go buy the treats if they are a hit with the dog, right? So the dog owner makes a purchase from Sarah and in turn gets a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert from Sam’s restaurant. As you can imagine, both businesses benefit, and the customers will tell their dog-loving friends about their experience. That’s a match made in heaven.

If you want to re-define economic stimulus for yourself, then you want to start creating joint ventures for your business. Think of the buying habits of your customer and you can start coming up with some fabulous ideas for your own joint ventures. Why not take out some paper and start using the creative side of your brain?

All it takes is a little creativity and a deep desire to serve your customer. Find out what else your customer buys. If you notice that people often come into your business carrying shopping bags from a particular nearby business, you have the basis for a joint venture. Could you ask them to offer a coupon or a sample? And could you in turn find a way to give your customers a discount or sample of theirs?

Ask yourself these questions to get the creative juices flowing.

Where else do your customers like to shop? What other products/services are a natural fit for your customer? What else do your customers want and need that you don’t intend to provide yourself? How can you make these customers to think of you as their hero? Whom do you know in a business that your customers would also like to frequent? Whom do you trust in a complimentary business? How can you better serve your customers by forging joint ventures? How will you track results? Start stretching your mind and your expectations and create your own economic stimulus plan through the power of joint ventures.

How to write a press release

How to Write a Press Release

Getting Started. To get started on your radio press release, think about who you will be pitching your show to. Ultimately your show is being pitched to radio hosts and producers who are inundated with press releases and phone calls every day. They are looking for the hottest show ideas that their listeners will enjoy.

So, come up with a show idea. Think about how you can tie your product and message to something that a producer or host would deem newsworthy. Think outside the box a bit…some of the best radio show ideas live there!

Now that you have your show idea there is something else to consider: why should they listen to me and not the countless other people who seemingly know more than me on the subject? Radio shows need expert, not guests sharing unqualified opinions. Remember, they can just as easily get these opinions by taking calls from their listeners.

You are an expert and you don’t even know it! Think about it: who knows your product and message better than you do? You can probably talk about your product with more knowledge and enthusiasm than anyone else out there. Later you’ll learn the press release tricks to position yourself as an expert.

Now you not only have a show idea, but you are an expert! Well done! Now it is time to start working on the release. Throughout this process do not forget the following vital piece of information: THE PRESS RELEASE IS YOUR TOOL TO GET BOOKED ON RADIO SHOWS!

The Five Pieces of the Press Release Puzzle The following are the important components of a radio press release which will make your show idea come to life for producers and hosts, as well as position you ahead of the pack.

1. Headline! Headline? HEADLINE!!! Arguably the most important aspect of your press release, headlines are so vital that there are entire books written and seminars taught on how to construct the most effective ones. Now, don’t let this scare you. Writing a killer headline is definitely a skill that can be developed; all you need is a clear and concise overview of your topic. Write down your show idea and look it over. Now look it over again.

What is your key message? Is your show idea newsworthy? Are there any well-known people that you can tie into your topic? Do you have any impressive statistics that are relevant? Is there anything controversial that ties directly into your subject? The answers to these questions will help you develop a headline which is ready for increased pick-up by producers and hosts.

Your headline must communicate the topic of the show instantly in an eye-catching way. It should not be longer than 1 sentence and will act as THE sound bite on your topic. Now that’s a lot of weight to put on a single sentence!

Sometimes to alleviate the weight of the headline, you may need a sub-head to support it. If your headline gives just a taste of your show topic, then a sub-head is useful to explain it further. When someone reads the headline and sub-head together it should immediately click what the concept of the show is. Do this correctly and you will definitely grab some attention!

2. Discussion Topic This is your chance to present a concise summary of your show topic. It should continue naturally from the headline to further expand the topic. The headline gets the attention and the discussion topic gives the reader more.

The length should be two sentences, tops. This forces you to present (and think about) your topic in a concise manner. Again try to tie your topic to current events, celebrity, or controversy! Don’t be worried about repeating yourself in the different sections of the press release. After all, you want to get a cohesive point across! (A great tip: try writing the Topic Summary and Headline together. It is a great way to save time!)

3. Talking Points/Questions These are an absolute must for talk radio as they are the shaping tools that guide the host through your topic. Funnily enough, most times the host will read directly off of the press release during the interview. This not only makes them look knowledgeable, but it saves them heaps of time! So why not have them read YOUR words?!

Yet again you will need to tie in current events and any controversy that will stir interest (are you tired of hearing this yet?). Generally it is good to give no more than 10 of these conversation shapers. If you do get your show picked up, the interviews generally last anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes…so concise is a word that you should familiarize yourself with right now!

Remember: the more interesting the questions — the more interesting the interview!

4. Topic Overview This is where the traditional press release that you may have seen before resurfaces. The reason it only appears now is because in radio you need to grab their attention quickly, something that the topic overview doesn’t. Keep in mind that you are pitching your show topic to inundated radio producers and hosts whose time is very limited. With hundreds of releases hitting their inbox, the more eye-catching and relevant your headline is, the more they will read on.

Once you have gained their attention with your eye-catching headline, topic summary and talking points it is time to present the full show idea. This is your opportunity to fully flesh out your topic to position you as an expert on the topic you are discussing. Do not write a sales piece here — write your show! Work your name, personal quotes and product name into the summary. Liberally use the following to build your topic and profile: statistics, testimonials, current news facts, professional title (which is real and honest). Use anything that will interest the producer, host and in effect THEIR AUDIENCE! Try to limit this to a page maximum, with an ideal range to be 4-6 paragraphs with around 4 sentences max in each one.

5. Biography Now this is the one element that people tend to forget, underplay or overplay. THIS IS ABOUT YOU! This is your chance to position yourself as the expert you are in order for your show idea to be picked up, with you in the driver’s seat. Use your qualifications, education, career, relationships, memberships, travel history, how many dogs you have….etc. Basically use anything that can help qualify you as an expert on the topic. If you are writing about religion, anything that you do in your life that pertains to religion is applicable and increases your plausibility as an expert on that topic.

A word of warning though: don’t sensationalize yourself. By doing this you will immediately turn-off producers and hosts. Instead, effectively communicate your achievements and expertise on the topic that you are presenting. Simply rehashing your resume with bullet-points is an absolute «no-no».

Don’t Forget! * The goal of a radio press release is to market you, the expert, and your topic to radio producers and hosts in order to get booked as a guest on their shows. All of the sections of the release should support each other and come together to present a clear view of your show topic. The best way to get someone to hit the delete button on your press release is by presenting them with a disjointed release that does not clearly present the topic or explain why you are an expert on the topic.

* Be concise at all times. If your release is «top-heavy» it will be dumped almost immediately, most times without even a glance. Make sure that the Headline and Topic Summary sections are top-notch, tight and straight to the point. With radio you have the freedom to be slightly more sensational than with print. By having an eye-catching headline and topic summary you will grab attention, and the rest of the release will feed it. Don’t just go for eye-catching statements if they do not communicate your topic. Be clear and get your idea across as best as you can.

* And guess what? All of this hard work means nothing if your show topic is flat. Put lots of thought into your show idea. Think about topics that will appeal to the masses rather than a small niche market. The broader the appeal and the more timely the subject matter, the more interesting you are to radio producers and hosts.

The radio press release is the best marketing tool to get you onto talk radio shows so you can publicize yourself and your product. If you take your time developing your topic and put lots of thought into developing your press release you can almost guarantee that radio stations nationwide will start biting! So get writing!

Hottest lawn care small business franchises

Hottest Lawn Care Small Business Franchises

Grass; I always thought it was just that short green stuff I played football on and rolled around in when I was a kid, but as it turns out, grass is a bigger deal than I’ve ever given it credit for. There are magazines, books, websites, clubs, and innumerable businesses that specialize specifically in grass: knowing and teaching how to make a lawn as green, thick, and healthy as it possibly can be. In fact, in 2003, it was an $11.6bil industry, but this industry is more than just grass, it’s called lawn care. If you’re an entrepreneur interested in starting a home based business that will be profitable and enjoyable, entering the lawn care world as a professional may be a good way to go, and here are some great lawn care franchises to get you there.

Lawn Maintenance

There are a few different angles from which to approach lawn care as a business. The most obvious side of the industry is the actual work of maintaining the lawn itself, and there are three businesses I would recommend for their excellence in the market.

Spring-Green Lawn Care is a longtime powerhouse in the lawn care world, providing top-notch service to homeowners in 24 states for the last 30 years. Franchisees with this mobile franchise receive a week of initial training and a few days of on-the-job training before starting out as owner/operators; fertilizing clients’ lawns, controlling diseases and insects, aerating, and maintaining trees and hedges around the lawn as well. And that simple beginning can quickly turn into a more profitable operation with the franchisee overseeing a larger group of employees actually doing the work.

Home lawns aren’t the only option in the business, though; there are also small business opportunities in the field of commercial lawn care. U.S. Lawns is a company that has been franchising successfully since 1986. Their goal is to provide the corporate professionalism necessary in commercial landscaping with the personal touch of a small business. Franchisees need no previous experience to succeed with the business, and overhead is low, while business is very constant, as commercial clients tend to be repeat customers for a long time.

Since its inception in 1991, NaturaLawn of America has been the nation’s leader in organic lawn care. Unlike their competition, NaturaLawn of America refuses to use harsh chemical treatments to rid lawns of weeds and insects; instead, they fight disease and promote growth with only natural solutions. Increasingly, this is the preferred method of care for many consumers, and thus demand for this kind of business is growing.

Lawn Cleanup

Not all problems in a person’s yard are threats to the lawn, though; sometimes, the threat is to the people walking across the lawn instead of the lawn itself. It may not be a danger, per se, but dog waste in the yard is definitely an eyesore and an inconvenience, and there is a special class of lawn care businesses that concentrate on getting rid of it.

Doody Calls and Pet Butler are the big names in the pet waste management industry, each providing professional waste pick-up and removal to innumerable clients around the country. Their systems are incredibly well-planned and brilliantly functional, orchestrating numerous mobile units that run their circuits around town while tracked by GPS to check progress. Marketing plans are made available to all franchisees through central computer systems, and communication between franchises is encouraged to maximize effectiveness. It may not be the most glamorous work in the world, but it is certainly profitable, sometimes turning up to a 49% profit margin, and running in a $40bil-and-climbing pet market, the prospect of future business growth is a definite possibility.

Lawn Boundaries

Another opportunity for working in lawn care without having to worry about the maintenance of grass is with a franchise business called Kwik Kerb. Today, it has become incredibly popular to have artistic concrete boundaries between the lawn and planters in the yard, and that is precisely the product and service that this work from home business provides. Aesthetically, the product is pleasing to the eye, but it provides a very functional purpose as well, drawing a clear boundary between yard and planter that doubles as a barricade, keeping any weeds and diseases from the lawn out of the flower bed, and visa versa. There are many benefits to this business, aside from high profit margin in the world of landscaping, and one of those is that this particular brand of landscaping doesn’t require continued service, so once the franchisee finishes the work for a client, the project is complete. Some business owners like the consistency of repeat business, but for those who like to get a job done and move on to another, this is a good choice.

If getting your hands dirty at work is important to you, and you really find satisfaction in growing a deep, emerald green lawn, lawn care may be just the business for you to get into. With any of these franchises, it could easily be the road to success and financial freedom.

Is the 1st thing a dog owner needs to buy

Is the 1st thing a dog owner needs to buy?

Buying a collar and lead is probably one of the first things a new dog owner does, as they are a necessity for proper control of your dog and an essential piece of equipment when training a new dog or puppy. If you have a puppy then it’s likely they will quickly outgrow a collar or lead, so it is perfectly acceptable to buy non-expensive and lightweight equipment during this early stage of their life. Many people like their dogs to wear a collar all of the time, but some ornamental collars will not stand up to a sudden movement or constant straining. You should therefore consider having 2 collars; one for ornamental purposes and another one for training your dog or puppy. Even though puppies get plenty of exercise through play you should try and get your puppy accustomed to wearing their collar and lead at the earliest age possible. Even if you do not intend your dog or puppy to wear a collar all the time you can buckle a light collar around their neck and leave it there for a number of days until your dog or puppy ignores its presence. Do be aware that the neck hair of a long haired dog will be permanently marked if it wears a collar at all times so use common sense depending on your breed of dog or puppy. A bolt and spring clip is best on the end of a lead and you should buy clips where the opening does not come at the point of most strain as they are liable to come apart. Leather and nylon leads are a good choice and although many owners think chains would be stronger they can be very uncomfortable from the owner’s point of view. If you are serious about training then you will be using a slip collar, as this will provide you with much more control. A slip collar consists of a chain with a ring at either end, the chain is dropped through one of the rings to form a loop, which is then put over the dog’s head. A pull on a slip collar is slightly uncomfortable for the dog providing focus for training, but when the lead is slack the collar is loose. The slip collar will only work well if the collar is put on correctly so you should practice to ensure the fit is best for you and your dog. When using a lead take it in your right hand and ensure your dog walks on your left hand side. If using a slip collar the ring through which the chain is slipping should be underneath. Practice as much as possible with your collars and leads so that both you and your dog or puppy become familiar with them and you can both use them in the best possible way. Once you have the right equipment you can begin basic exercises and lessons to train your dog for obedience, competitions or shows, providing pleasure and companionship for you and your dog or puppy. Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips and hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to Internet Business, do please browse for more information at our websites. http://www.adsence-dollar-factory.com http://www.100earningtips.com

How to find a business wholesale supplier online

How to Find a Business Wholesale Supplier Online

If you are trying to get yourself set up with a wholesale supplier, this can be quite an interesting process, especially if you are a newbie at this. The plain and simple truth is that some of the more technical material, tools and hardware are only available through a wholesale supplier. This is because of the fact that most retailers shy away from carrying inventory that is too specialized or that seem to be beyond the average consumer’s comprehension.

When you think of wholesale, what comes to your mind? The first thing that pops into your head is that they are cheaper than retailers. Today that is not always true especially since the big dog warehouse mega stores came onto the scene. When these two entities start a slug fest, it can really work to your financial advantage. For your part, you just have to be vigilant at shopping around for the best deals.

Establishing credibility: It may be tough to try to establish credibility with some suppliers who are in the wholesale business. What you really need to do is to open a business checking account with a wholesale supplier. If you do not have an account, but pay with a company check, you are as good as in! You may even be in for a discount.

Where to look: Some of the time you may find wholesale suppliers by word of mouth, and at other times nothing beats the good ole Yellow Pages. Another very viable source that can be invaluable is the Internet. Now that you have it narrowed down as to where to look, you must then decide what kind of wholesale supplier you are looking for.

What am I Looking For: You first have to know what you are looking for in relation to products before you zero in on a specific wholesale supplier. Are you looking for clothing, accessories such as handbags, hats, scarves, belts sunglasses and the like, jewelry such as earrings, watches, rings, bracelets and diamonds, electronics such as cell phones, MP3 players, video games, DVDs, digital cameras, and car audio, gifts such as figurines, gift basket supplies, candles, baby gifts, gift boxes and gift bags, toys and collectibles such as baby toys, novelties, dolls, Christmas ornaments and games.

You may also want to be supplied with furniture and home decor such as housewares, clocks, curtains, furniture, kitchenware, towels and pottery or general merchandise such as dollar store bargains, closeouts, convenience store bargains, overstock, party supplies and books. Perhaps you already own a beauty shop and are looking for more bargains for your displays such as fragrances, skin care, bath products, beauty supplies, cosmetics and aromatherapy.

No matter what business you are in or what business you think you might like to try, there is bound to be a wholesale supplier who is able to meet your needs. An Internet search will bring you in contact with many of these suppliers. Then your business will be able to beat the cost of high prices and realize more profit.