When do you know that it’s time to hire an Accountant vs. doing QuickBooks?

This is a fantastic question and one that gets asked of me often. The answer depends on who is asking the question. If you are the type of person who balances your checkbook every month and can stay on top of personal finances, then you will likely do well with either spreadsheets or other accounting software like QuickBooks. Even so, I like to recommend that you sit down with a CPA at least once or twice a year – for most this is done around tax time. As your business grows you may find that your accountant becomes more like a business advisor and you will meet with them more and more often.

If you are the type of person who is unclear what your net income is or you have never balanced your personal checkbook, you would benefit from sitting down with an accountant right away and establishing a plan. The accountant can walk you through what you will need at tax time so you can keep track of the information all year long rather than having to scramble to find everything at tax time. In either case QuickBooks can make the accounting process easier.

QuickBooks in the number one accounting software for small business and is used by millions of small business owners. Having used the product for 10+ years, I can say that Intuit has done a great job in making bookkeeping tasks easy and the QuickBooks software is very user friendly. I have seen QuickBooks work for businesses that have less than $100,000 in sales per year, all the way up to sales of $34 million. Most business owners can use QuickBooks every day with no problems and actually find comfort in having all their numbers in one place rather than spread between sticky notes, excel spreadsheets and notebooks.

What is the secret for successful QuickBooks users? First the program file has been setup correctly for them and the way they do business. For the basic business just starting up the QuickBooks company templates work great. When you install the program, QuickBooks asks about the type of business and has prefilled account names and types available for use. Another great thing about QuickBooks is that even after the initial setup it is very easy to customize. Your accountant or a certified QuickBooks advisor can assist you with this customization if needed.

Second, successful QuickBooks users take the time to receive some training, either through a live course, or using free QuickBooks training provided with the software. Even an hour of basic training can save time and headaches when you need to make your first bank deposit or write your first check.

So, in actuality you may need both an accountant and personal knowledge of QuickBooks to some degree, and your time, desire and knowledge will determine how much of each. An accountant can do it all if you don’t have the time or desire. QuickBooks can be a tool used to do it all yourself if you have the desire, with your accountant only reviewing the numbers a few times a year. Be honest with yourself and decide where your time and energy will be most profitable, and you will be successful.

I am always happy to answer questions, so please feel free to contact me at lindseyp@squire.com. Also, my firm offers several beginning business and QuickBooks classes. For more information, visit the website www.squire.com or email me.

The Importance of Having Great Product Photos

Many product designers spend hours crafting a written description for their products. In reality, unless a customer already knows they want your product, they probably won’t even read your description…they’ll look at the product photo to see if the product ‘looks’ right for them.

What are your product photos saying about your product?

Whatever you are selling, the product photograph must artfully insert the item into the viewer’s own environment so they can envisage using it, looking at it or replacing something they already own with it.

The old adage “a picture speaks a thousand words” is not so far from the truth…

Take, for example, a typical product shot.

It is reasonable sharp and shows the entire product. But does it make me want to buy it? Can I see myself wearing it? Does it look worth the money?

…probably not…

To be clear, it is not so much the object that’s the problem as the background. The necklace is actually on a sheet of white paper, but artificial lighting has created a not-so-flattering yellow hue.

A crisp, white background is hard to achieve without lighting equipment, but the effect speaks for itself.

The same item now appears entirely different.

Adding a different angle or a close-up/macro shot further helps to ‘describe’ the product for the viewer, and makes an attractive, eye-catching image as well.

These examples present very basically the difference good product photographs can make.

I recently photographed a series of picnic blankets for Jennifer Locke at Zip-n-Go Blanket. “Blankets have been flying out the door! I get a lot of comments about how rich the blankets look now and I believe the pictures have definitely increased sales.

Take a moment to revisit what potential customers see when they visit your website. After all your hard work to bring a product to market, it would be a great shame if the lack of a couple of photographs was holding your business back!

Sue is a self-taught photographer with years of experience. Sue works with businesses of varying sizes across many industries including Etsy and home-based businesses. Sue Bruce Photography is a Mom-owned business, based in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is a member of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and the Professional Photographers of Massachusetts (PPAM). Check out Sue’s portfolio online at www.suebrucephotography.com.

My 8 Emphatic Suggestions for Rocking Your Business RIGHT NOW

I’ve worked with a few dozen Fire Starter clients in the past few weeks on career optimizing, transitioning, start ups, reinventions, product ideas, social media strategies and balancing it all without burning it out. {And I adore each and everyone of you. I’m thinking about you all right this minute and smiling hugely, because it takes kahunas to show up in the world and sell your soul with integrity, and to turn love into fat cash and ideas into fulfillment. Keep on moving.}

I’ve been hammering on the same concepts with lots of folks. I am known to hammer. I’m clear that I am not a coach – I’m an adviser, so I can get away with being passionately opinionated.

MY 8 EMPHATIC SUGGESTIONS FOR ROCKING YOUR BUSINESS:

1. ONE STOP WEB SPACE: SIMPLIFY AND LEVERAGE
Stop thinking of your site and your blog as separate things. Just stop it right this instant. There needs to be a paradigm shift whereby entrepreneurs create ONE on-line space for themselves that includes the “brochure ware” that is the critical function of sites, and regularly updated, juicy, and informative content, aka, a blog. Having a site with a “BLOG” button that pushes users out to a totally different space (usually not even reflecting the aesthetic brand of your primary website,) is like having one clothing store that just sells pants, and sending your customer down the street to your “other” store to buy a shirt. Keep your customers under one umbrella so that they can explore and utilize your universe.

Create a seamless one-stop portal of all that you do so you are capturing the various interests of your visitors in one fell swoop: to read inspiring stuff, to buy a product, to hire you as a speaker or for a service you provide. The more they know, the better. If you architect it with logic and simplicity, you can accomplish a lot in one space. Having a separate blog usually screams “after thought.”

Repeat: If you have more than one on-line space that is essentially talking about what you do or sell – collapse it all into one. This also helps with search engine optimization and ranking. And erase the word “blog” from your consciousness. Think in terms of regular, engaging content that you can deliver.

2. GIVE UP IMMEDIATELY
Stop doing what’s not working. It will feel amazing. It will free up energy to leverage the stuff that has the truest, greatest potential.

3. THERE IS POWER IN BEING SOLO
If there is no “we” to your company – if YOU are it, then just say so. People are hiring you. You don’t hear me saying “We at White Hot Truth…” Of course, if you need copy writers, or web designers, finance people, I’ve got a crew I’m always referring to, but, me is me, not we.

4. TALK TO ME: WRITE IN FIRST PERSON
People are hiring you, paying attention to you, coming to see you. So they want to here from…YOU. This is the stale old 80’s approach: “Danielle is a former think tank executive and communication strategist, who now works with entrepreneurs to develop their careers.” This is the magnetic/heart approach: “I ran a DC-based think tank for futurists, helped put a few authors on the map, and now work with entrepreneurs to rock their careers.” Who would you rather hire?

Besides, anyone you want to work with is smart enough to know that the third person copy is probably written by…You.

5. TURN THE MUSIC OFF
If you have music that automatically starts playing when people log on to your site – turn it off. It’s annoying. People are working in shared spaces, have their own music playing on i-Pods and radios, and don’t need the interruption. If you simply must have music, at least give users an obvious icon to click it off or adjust the volume.

6. WORK WITH A WRITER FOR A BIT, EVEN IF YOU’RE A GOOD WRITER YOURSELF
Working with a talented copy writer can create quantum leaps for you. They will “interview” you and tease out angles, bio points, and creative notions that you may not have seen yourself. The right writer is an essential creative partner when you’re packaging yourself and/or designing your services. In the past two weeks, I have recommend the following ladies at least four times: Grace Kerina , Lindsey Lewis, Emma Alvarez Gibson.

7. BUILD IN WORD PRESS
I’m religious about Wordpress and refer to designers who are masters of it: Paul at twothirty, and Sarah at S.JoyStudios , and Kate at ThreeSquare Design.

{it bears mentioning: I don’t get/accept kickbacks for any service referrals, ever.}

8. BLOW YOUR HORN
Look, I’m tellin’ you: you are amazing. I don’t care who you are, you’ve got something to give. You are likely an expert in something, a gifted contributor to some form of life or avenue of industry, you’ve probably been around the block a few times and as a result, have much to give. And if you’re a newbie starting out, you sure as hell have passion to burn.

So sell it, baby, sell it. Stand in your place of knowing and contribution and give it. The world needs you.

xo
Danielle

Danielle LaPorte is the founder of www.whitehottruth.com and the lead author of the bestseller, Style Statement: Live By Your Own Design. A former think tank exec, she helps social entrepreneurs rock their careers and creativity with her signature Fire Starter Sessions. A speaker and media personality, Danielle has been featured in Elle, The Huffington Post, Vogue Australia, The National Post and Domino. She co-founded the popular site, www.carrieanddanielle – she left in 2008 to go solo. You can reach her at d(at)daniellelaporte(dot)com

Essential Facts for Business Success in Licensing Your Artwork – THINK PRODUCT

Hello, my name is Carol Eldridge and I have been licensing my artwork for products for over 20 years to major manufacturers through out the United States and overseas. I’m also a consultant for artists who wish to license their designs. My work has appeared in major retail stores along with smaller gift shops and has been seen on TV shows, catalogs, on line shopping, and in fund raising catalogs. I have exhibited at Surtex for over 20 years, serving on the show’s advisory board and giving seminars on art licensing. I have also exhibited at the Brand Licensing show in London, England and the CHA show in Las Vegas. My work has been licensed for calendars, dinnerware, fabric, giftware, Christmas ornaments, rugs, wallpaper, clothing, stationery, wrapping paper and gift bags, ribbons, books, tiles, pottery, stickers, scrapbook materials, sheets, cotton throws, ceramics, kitchen textiles, ironing board covers, floor mats, aprons, mugs and just about anything else you can think of. My designs have sold in the millions at retail.

I am very fortunate to have a good business head and intuitive marketing skills that have enabled me to stand above the crowd. It is not enough today to just be a good artist in order to make a living licensing your artwork. It is important to understand the business, the facts and terminology, what should be covered in a licensing contract, marketing strategies, trends, building a brand, websites and blogs, other social medias such as Twitter and Facebook, how to think product, how to communicate with your companies and if you should use an agent or not.

My hope is to set some standards in the business and help other artists be aware of the business of art, be smart, be savvy and be very professional.

THINK PRODUCT

Lots of artists have talent…they can paint a beautiful watercolor of a landscape or beach scene, but how does that translate to the retail market?

You need to THINK PRODUCT…the more vision that you have to show the manufacturer what the line or product could look like, the better chance you have to get their attention.

This ties into trends and what is going on in the market…I think you need to be aware of everything around you so you can be on target for what the companies might be looking for.

Shop the retail environment, take notes, notice what the companies are manufacturing, what are you seeing for trends, what is showing up in shelter magazines, what is happening in fashion, what types of products seem to be selling well. How can you design an image that will work well on dinner plates or tabletop? How can you design a Christmas collection that will translate to ornaments as well as holiday tabletop? Can you draw up an actual product with your design image applied to show what the possibilities could be? Can you think outside the perimeters of the drawing pad?

In developing designs, you need to work on images that can expand into patterns, borders and other accessory pieces to make a collection that will merchandise well. A single image is not the answer. You need to think COLLECTION and how the pieces can coordinate together to tell a story.

You need to be able to create a scalable image that can be used on a multitude of products. How will it apply to the retail market? Will it sell and who will buy it? Does it have a general appeal? Is it a design that will appeal to a broad range of people?

Think of a design concept that is clever and trendy, is innovative with a fresh approach, has a broad appeal and has an application to a myriad of products that the consumer will just feel that they have “Got to have it” and you will be on the way to licensing your designs.

Thank you Fairy Godmother Carol for sharing your expertise with us! If you’d like to contact Carol for consulting, say hello  through her website.

What’s on Your Summer Business Reading List?

We’re obsessed with the library. My kids are gobbling up books by the hundreds and we are constantly going back to return and get more. Since I’m going so often, I’d like to read a couple of fabulous business books this Summer between The Secret Garden, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Angelina Ballerina. Any suggestions? What are your top fav?

My recommendations: E-myth, Good to Great and his “Hedgehog Principle”, Reality Check, The Art of the Start (if you’re going after investment money), The Soccer Mom Myth, The Tipping Point, everything by Seth Godin, The 4 Hour Work Week, The Power of Intention.

Want to Reach a New Audience? Have Bloggers Write about Your Business? Create a Social Media Event

Recently Goldsmith Jewelers of Utah hosted a private social media event for Utah bloggers. Their objective was to increase foot traffic into their store and it was a smashing success.

Janet Meiners Thaeler “Newspapergirl” pictured left wrote an excellent article about this social media marketing event for Open Forum, American Express.  Jyl Patte of Mom it Forward helped coordinate the event with Sprout Marketing.

You might consider your own campaign for your business. I recommend this type of marketing because it’s a win for everyone involved–bloggers get to see what you do firsthand and then report and share with their communities offering some sort of review, a coupon, and perhaps even a giveaway, companies get to reach a new audience they have never met before and potential clients trust the voice and experience of the blogger to bring them a good recommendation.  

If you do this type of campaign, just make sure you consider the objective is clear of what you wish to accomplish and make sure everyone who is involved in planning the event understands (that you want to increase sales, build visibility online through new press,etc.) so at the end you can see how your time and dollars benefitted. You might hire a consultant to support you in your campaign if you don’t know other bloggers in your industry or are not savvy with social media networks such as Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter.

Enjoy learning more on Janet’s post.

Building a Strong Vendor Base

You are only as strong as your weakest link.  We should all ask ourselves regularly, “Where is my business the weakest”?  If that answer is your vendor base, then you have some work to do. Understanding that the vendors you surround your business with, not only provide a strong support system but also help define your business are key to success.   In my experience it is important for any business that offers products or services to have 4 types of vendors.

• KEY VENDORS

These are the vendors that you work with often and provide the key items that you use or ship every day.  They should be dependable and big enough to handle your needs.  You should develop a good relationship and have a contact person that knows you.

• Secondary or Back Up Vendors

Vendors that have products that are the same or similar to your key items.  You must always have a list of back up vendors.  You never know when an item will go out of stock, prices change or your needs start to exceed what your Key Vendors can provide.  Sometimes scrambling to fill orders is unavoidable due to market conditions, but having a list of secondary vendors will make a big difference.

• New Product Vendors

Add new products often.  Test out new products and services on a regular basis.  This will keep your business fresh and help generate new sales.  Your established customer base will look for new products and ideas to stay interested.  Many new product vendors will become Key Vendors.

• Closeout or Special Deal Vendors

Offer specials from time to time.  Don’t be afraid to buy closeouts.  These are vendors that you may never buy from again, but offer the right product at the right time.  Don’t buy from companies you know nothing about.  Stick to the larger established ones that usually offer closeouts with good value as well as quality.  Remember that it is only a good deal if it is good quality at a good price. Your customers will love knowing you are passing the value on to them.

Linda Lenzi is the owner of My Princess Party To Go, “Moms in the business of helping Moms cut the stress and cost of hosting the perfect Princess Party!” You can visit her website at www.myprincesspartytogo.com.

What I Learned My First Year in Business- Lisa Peck, Step It Up Queen

Lisa Peck, Life Coach, Author, mother of 7 and “Step It Up Queen” asked some very introspective questions at our SLC Startup Princess Chapter event recently. (This the 2nd of six posts focusing on the subject “What I Learned My First Year in Business”. The first if you missed it was by Rachael Herrscher of Today’s Mama. The following are Startup Princess Founder, Kelly King Anderson’s notes from the event)

Lisa Peck asks:

What are your core values?

What are the words you’re using to describe yourself and your business?

What are you drawn to?

What makes you most fulfilled?

Once you know the answers to these questions Peck suggests finding a mentor who can help you be more authentic self and not put their values onto yours.

Peck suggests that one business strategy that has been successful for her is to make one major goal per quarter.

-

Way to go Lisa, great questions and advice. I’m definitely encouraged to focus on one major goal per quarter, what a great way to break it down. Thank you for your wisdom and contributing to Startup Princess!

Managing Cash Flow

Knowing what you have is often the key to knowing where you can go.  Managing and maintaining a healthy cash flow is essential for a business to grow and thrive.  Below are a few ideas for better managing your cash flow, review each idea and ask “do we do this in our business” and if so “why or why not “.  Adding just of few of these ideas to your business management can help to improve your cash flow and increase profitability.

• Make prompt payments to suppliers only when discounts apply, otherwise schedule payments near due date
• Maintain good business relations with all suppliers
• Sell items for cash or credit cards rather than on terms
• Accept deposits with balance due upon shipment
• Offer discounts to customers for early payment
• Don’t let policies automatically renew – review them first and shop around for a better deal
• Invoice clients/customers as soon as work is done or order filled – don’t wait
• Be sure the invoice due date is clear and prominent – large BOLD print is best
• Review monthly accounts receivable – who owes you money – and follow up immediately
• Be aggressive in collecting debts
• Require customers to be current on their account before doing additional work
• Deposit payments promptly into an interest bearing checking account
• Reduce inventory to the most necessary items
• Dispose of slow moving items (sell at cost or bundle and discount etc.)
• Vary prices by season
• Encourage non-urgent customers to wait for delivery until a slower time of year

*ideas adapted from Squire Insights Corporate Education Series “Cash Flow Best Practices”

If you’re in Utah County, Square offers FREE Quickbooks courses. Visit www.squire.com for more information.

Finding the Best Email Marketing Tool for Your Business

You’ve followed all of the marketing experts’ advice, built up your list and are sending out newsletters and emails to keep in contact with everyone. You’ve been using Outlook to keep track of all of your contacts and emails, but as your list grows, you’re finding it tougher to track the results you’re getting from your emails, and you’d like to incorporate more features into your emails. There are so many email marketing tools out there, but how do you know which one has the features you want at a price you can afford? 

We’ve put together a list of some email marketing tools that came recommended to us a while back on Twitter. All of the email marketing tools on this list offer the same basic services: sending email newsletters, templates, and autoresponder setup, just to name a few. Listed here are some of the unique and different features offered by each service. Prices have also been included and are based on a 1,300 contacts or emails, depending on the information provided by each service. 

Act-On
Act-On provides customizable templates and stationery for your email to help set you apart from the rest. It also contains a graphical form builder to allow you to create forms and surveys. If you have distribution lists located in several places, Act-On can bring them together and consolidate them into one for you, making your distribution list easier to manage. Act-On also tracks your emails through the sending process and provides you real-time reports on who opens your email, clicks on your links and replies to you. Act-On does not provide cost information on their website, but they do offer a 30 day free trial for their services.

Aweber
Aweber not only tracks website clicks using your domain name rather than tracking links so people know where they’re being directed to from your newsletter, it also will automatically tweet your newsletter onto Twitter. Using Aweber you can segment subscribers based on who clicked or didn’t click links in your newsletter and send follow-up emails accordingly. It can also split test messages to find the best offer or subject line for you. Another feature that is becoming popular among email marketing tools that Aweber offers is the ability to convert your blog’s RSS feed into an email newsletter. You can find a full list of Aweber’s features here. Prices for Aweber run $29/month for 501-2,500 subscribers.

Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor uses Google Analytics to track your email campaign-related sales. Using this service, you are able to customize the sign-up and unsubscribe process for each distribution list you manage. It also will take care of all bounced email and spam complaints. You can find a full list of Campaign Monitor’s features here. Using Campaign Monitor, there are no setup charges or monthly costs, you only pay when you send. There is a flat delivery fee of $5 per campaign, plus 1 cent for each recipient. So if you are sending your email to 1,000 people, your cost would be $15 – the $5 flat delivery fee plus $10 for all of your recipients.

Emma
Emma includes a custom design template done by their company with their setup fee. They offer a month-to-month service contract rather than an annual contract, which can save you money if you do not send something out every month. They also offer 10% off everything when you sign up for a full year of their services. A unique benefit Emma offers is that they plant five trees for each customer who uses their company’s service. A full list of benefits can be found here. The cost for Emma’s services is $30/month for 1,000 or $40 for 2,500 emails. There is a $249 one-time setup fee.

iContact
iContact provides its customers with 500kb of image hosting and uses T3 connected servers, making sure your messages are delivered quickly. An exclusion list feature allows you to choose lists or segments of lists to determine who should and should not receive a specific message delivery. iContact provides event RSVP management and follow-up, and also allows you to send automated messages to subscribers based on date or how long they have subscribed to your list. A full list of iContact’s features can be found here. Prices for iContact is $29/month or $313.20/year for up to 2,500 contacts.

MailerMailer
MailerMailer offers its customers a customized signup form for their new distribution list members. You are also able to copy and paste HTML code or use a page from your website as a template for your emails; and they also provide a fill-in-the-blank template to customize your emails. MailerMailer will confirm all of your opt-ins, and provides live tracking of all your emails so you know where your campaigns are. You can find a full list of features here. Sending up to 20,000 emails per month runs $29.95 per month, and they also offer a 200 email free trial.

Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s features include screenshots of your email in all major email clients so you can make sure it will appear correctly to everyone. They perform quick and automatic A/B tests with every email campaign to ensure what works and what doesn’t so your email campaign runs smoothly. You are also able to change and personalize the content you send based on each recipient’s interests or any other criteria you have set for your list. Each email is authenticated, meaning it embeds a code into the email header that guarantees your email is not blocked by filters. Mailchimp also has the ability to keep track of campaigns on your iPhone or other mobile device. For a full list of features, visit http://www.mailchimp.com/features/. Prices for 501-2,500 subscribers is $30/month, and they also offer a PAYGO plan to use as you need. 

My Newsletter Builder
My Newsletter Builder is 99% delivery verified, so you know your emails will get to where they need to be, when they need to be there. They also offer one-click Audio, Video, Flash and eVoiceSpot so you can include different types of media in your emails. My Newsletter Builder provides automated sign-up, subscription and referral systems, as well as automated survey and newsletter creation, including real-time tracking and statistics. A full list of features can be found here. Prices for My Newsletter Builder vary depending on the options you choose. For example, for $20/month, you can send unlimited emails to 1,001-1,500 subscribers. You can also choose the standard option, paying $18/month for 1,500 emails or $24/month for 2,500 emails. My Newsletter Builder also offers options to pay in bulk amounts per month or year, along with a 30 day free trial of their services. 

Vertical Response
Vertical Response offers free data hosting for your distribution lists as well as a free opt-in form. They also offer tracking and reporting to see how many people opened your emails or clicked on links in real time, and are anti-SPAM compliant. You can see a full list of benefits here. Vertical Response offers monthly or PAYGO options. For an email list size 501-2,000, the cost would be $28/month. If you choose a PAYGO option, it is $.13 per email for 1,001 – 2,500 emails (or $13 per 1,000 emails, 1300 emails would be roughly $16.90/month). 

Mary Havlicek creates more hours in the days of busy small business owners, especially mompreneurs. Her Virtual Assistant company, Hours by Design, offers copywriting, social media and general marketing services. With her decade of administrative experience, Mary takes tasks off her clients’ hands and puts back time for them to focus on putting energy back into their businesses and spending time with their families and children.

When she’s not creating time in her clients’ days, Mary enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter.

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