Brucano Net

This article is actually an example of a simple yet, excellent marketing plan. Pay close attention to how I went out and found new business at a time of the year when things are normally slow, and not only did I make $1,148.00, my friend Franky also made $1,060.00.

Because I chose to keep myself out of the rat race of landscaping new homes, I went after a market that was more of an impulsive type market. New home landscaping is almost a necessity, since new homes don’t have any shrubs or grass. Not only that, many housing developments actually require people to have their landscaping done within a certain number of months from the time they move into their new homes. Therefore, when the house is done, people are anxious to get it landscaped.

Since I wasn’t in that market, and most impulsive gardening decisions are made in the spring, my business typically slowed down during the very hot summer months. So one year I decided to do a little test marketing, to see if I could muster up some work during the summer.

I decided to do a test mailing to 350 homeowners in an area where I knew the people could afford landscaping services, but were not extremely rich. I mailed a letter to these 350 homes, and the letter basically said I could help them with any landscaping project that needed done, and because my business was slow during the summer I could give them a really fair price.

Of the 350 people that received the letter 3 called me. I immediately sold two jobs, and the third job was still open for discussion. On one of the first two jobs I made about $350. and on the other I made about $700. That’s net profit. That’s how much I got to keep. Since the mailing cost less than $175., my immediate profit on the mailing was $875. Not bad at all considering this was only a part-time business for me. But don’t forget about that third caller. I had not even met this person yet.

The reason he called is because he happened to own a 60 unit apartment building in the Cleveland area, and he needed some trees or shrubs planted around the parking lot. The architect that he had been working with suggested Taxus Hicksi, which is an evergreen that is easily trimmed and maintained to a certain size. However, all the landscapers he had spoken with in Cleveland wanted about $44.00 each to install these plants. Although a fair price, that amounted to $4,664.00 because he needed 106 plants.

He contacted me because he was hoping I could find a less expensive plant to use. After visiting the job site I realized that Taxus Hicksi actually was about the best choice for this situation, so I told him I would see if I could get a better price on the plants. I showed in a wholesale catalog that the wholesale price was $22.00 per plant, but mentioned that I might be able to find another source.

I knew that my friend Franky did at one time grow this particular plant, so I gave him a call. Turns out he did have 106 plants available, and was anxious to move some of them, he quoted me $10.00 each, balled in burlap. I called my customer and told him that I found good plants at a lower price, and that I could actually deliver and plant them for $22.00 per plant, which is exactly half of what others had quoted him. He was delighted, and I did the job. As a matter of fact he actually asked me to install some additional plants while I was there.

I hired 3 guys to help me do the job, and we had it done in one day. After I paid for the plants, and paid my help, I actually made $1,148.00 on that one day job. My customer was so happy with the work we did that he asked me to come back the following week and do about another $700.00 worth of work. I made another $350.00 The following spring he hired me to re-landscape an older home that he had purchased, and I made another $600.00.

Remember the $175.00 that I spent to mail those 350 letters? The net profit on that mailing turned out to be about $2,973.00!!! And my friend Franky picked up $1,060.00 for the plants I bought from him. Were these 350 people I selected special? No they weren’t. Every town in America has at least 350 people just like them, probably thousands more.

There are many different ways to make money with plants, this is just one of them, I can show you plenty more. I’ve been making money with plants for over 25 years.

Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided by gardening-articles.com

Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is easy; finding it again is the hard part. There are ways to make your files easier to use and your papers easier to find. Invest in a sturdy, four or five-drawer file cabinet. Spend the extra money it takes to get quality and durability.
You’ll spend more money replacing a cheaper file cabinet a few times than buying a reliable one in the beginning. You may not have enough files to fill the cabinet now, but believe me, you’ll need it in the future.

Before you buy additional cabinets, weed out unnecessary files. The natural tendency is to buy more cabinets to hold the papers you’ve accumulated. The more filing space you have, however, the more tendency you have to keep unnecessary papers.

Keep the number of hanging file folders you use to a minimum. Rather than putting only one interior folder in each hanging folder, group three to five interior folders in each one and label the hanging folder with the main category.

Minimize your paper files by using a scanner to store them electronically. There are hand-held, sheet-fed, flatbed and optical pen scanners available. You can even use a scanner to enter business cards into a contact management software program.

Designate one place in your office for magazines, newspapers and any other publications you don’t need to read right away. Select another place for papers that need to be filed. Stacking binsthey’re larger than stacking trays and have legskeep papers to file and papers to read separated, yet in close proximity to each other. You could also use wicker baskets near your desk to hold these materials. The point is to keep this inactive information off your desk and keep you focused on more important tasks.

You don’t have to spend a fortune or a lifetime organizing your home based business. Take the time to select the right location for your home office and evaluate whether your current furniture and setup is meeting your needs. Then design your office so you can find information quickly, and create a filing system that reduces the time you spend searching for important papers.

Disorganization can cause lost time and money and eventually may cause you to lose sight of the reason you started your business in the first place: to enjoy what you do each day.

Copyright 2004 DeFiore Enterprises

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our “how to” Home Business Solutions Digest, it’s like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

Choosing the right Overhead Projector for your particular application can be difficult and confusing if you don’t have any experience or background with this type of equipment. The Overhead projector certainly is not a complicated piece of Audio Visual Equipment to use, but purchasing the Overhead Projector that fits your needs is an important decision.

The first thing that you need to consider is if your Overhead Projector will need to be portable or
stationary. If your presentations require you to travel from location to location then you should
certainly consider having a projector that offers you the portability of a briefcase type Overhead
Projector. These projectors easily fold into the size of a large briefcase making them easy to
transport, even through an airport. If you will be making your presentations say from a Boardroom
or a Classroom where your Overhead Projector will spend most of its life then in most cases a portable Overhead Projector will not be necessary.

Once you have determined which type of Overhead Projector best fits your needs, then it’s time to consider these options: Lamp changer, Open or Closed Head, Hi/Lo Switch, Lumen Output
(How bright the projector is), Singlet, Doublet or Triplet Head, Standard Focal Length or Wide Angle. There is allot to consider when making your purchase and if you are not familiar with these terms it’s easy for a fast talking salesman to sell you something you don’t need or in some cases sell you something that isn’t right for your particular application. I will briefly touch on each of these features to give you an understanding of what these terms mean and why or why not you need these options.

Also keep in mind that just like purchasing an automobile or a computer the more options you
add to your Overhead Projector the more expensive the purchase price becomes. So consider
these options and how they will fit into your particular application carefully before making your final decision.

Lumen Output: Lumens refer to the amount of light (brightness) that is produced by the projection
lamp and the optics of the projector. Is your application going to be in a darkened room, partial light or full light? Generally speaking for Classroom or Boardroom use a projector that produces 3000-4000 lumens will be sufficient.

Lamp Changer: A lamp changer or dual lamp Overhead Projector is a projector that has two lamps and two lamp sockets. You are not burning both lamps at the same time; the idea behind this option is to give you, the end user, the capability of quickly changing to a new projection lamp during a presentation. This is often done by simply pushing a lever or flipping a switch. If changing a burned out projection lamp quickly during a presentation is critical then I would consider this option.

Hi/Lo Switch: The Hi/Lo switch controls the light output (lumens) of your Overhead Projector. Personally speaking I think that this option is more of a gimmick than a useful option. The claim is that when you don’t need the high light output of your projector you can switch it to the low position saving lamp life. It’s been my experience that this option rarely gets used, and does very little to save lamp life.

Singlet, Doublet, Triplet Head Assembly: These options also fall under the same category as wide angle projectors. In my opinion what should determine the necessity of these expensive options is the distance you will be projecting your image from. If you projecting from a short distance then you should consider purchasing a wide angle projector with at least a doublet head assembly. This will allow you to throw a large image on a screen or wall from a very short distance without losing the quality of your projected image. If you are using your Overhead Projector in classroom type environment then a Singlet Head Assembly will fit your needs.

Open or Closed Head: Now this is even a difficult decision for me. From a technicians stand point an Open Head makes cleaning the optics in the head easy. It also makes it much easier for the optics to be scratched or tampered with. A closed head offers the protection of these sensitive lenses, but makes cleaning them more difficult. We certainly see more damage to the Open Head Projectors in our shop than we do Closed Head.

Take the time to consider all of these options before you make your purchase and you’ll be sure to purchase the Overhead Projector that fits your particular needs. One more thing I would like to mention is the offer of a “Lifetime Warranty”. To quote one of the manufacturers that we purchase replacement parts from, “Lifetime Warranty, it’s a huge gimmick to get people to purchase our product. In most cases they will never bother to use the warranty, and for those who do, they will find that it is a limited “Lifetime Warranty” and it covers only a few of the components in the projector.” Don’t let this gimmick fool you, purchase by reputation, there is no manufacturer that offers anything for nothing no matter how good the claim or warranty.

Mark Boehm is the President of M-B Electronics. He has over 25 years of experience in the Audio Visual and Electronics Industry. You can contact M-B Electronics at 800-872-9456 or by E-mail at etbinc@comcast.net

For more information on this subject:http://www.mbelectronics.com/view.aspx?id=346

Do you appreciate your china cabinet? If not, perhaps you should. This item of furniture holds some of a family’s greatest possessions, like china dishes that may have been passed down from one generation to another, perhaps even through several families over time. Other special mementos, like framed photos, prized silverware, or even collections of some type typically fill a china cabinet. If you have one in your dining room, it may well be the center of attraction there, drawing everyone’s eyes to behold its beauty when they gather for holiday, celebratory, or routine meals. That’s why you want to take good care of this beautiful item to ensure it continues to hold valuable keepsakes and remain the focus of attention in your dining area.

Begin accentuating this beautiful wooden piece by clearing the clutter from its shelves and interior. Move books, mail, or other non-essential things to another part of the house. Clean out the inside, too, moving equipment manuals, insurance policies, or children’s toys from the interior and clearing the area for more relevant items. Then clean the cabinet from top to bottom, including the bottom and back. Dust it carefully, and then look for stains or spills that require special attention. Use a furniture crayon to cover scratches, and consider the application of furniture polish to keep it gleaming and protected from future spills.

Save the shelves for something of special significance, like a framed picture of your great-grandparents, especially if they were the original owners of the cabinet. Or you can feature a collector’s ensemble of tins, plates, or other memorabilia that will catch guests’ eyes. Of course, on the inside shelves you can settle your favorite china pieces, along with a drawer for the silverware. Arrange these in a sensible way so they won’t tip or fall. If you have glass doors on the top half of the cupboard, make sure the glass is secure, clean it if necessary, and stack visible items so they appear attractive and yet are secure. If all the china won’t fit, feature the most often used pieces or those that are most attractive.

Depending on the cabinet’s style, you may be able to nestle a corner cupboard into a perfectly fitting nook of the dining room. A freestanding cabinet can go against any wall where it won’t interfere with windows or vents. You may want to place a suitable dried flower arrangement, vase, or decorator accent on top of the cabinet, if it goes with your room’s décor. A matching sideboard, if you have one, can go into the same room against a different wall, perhaps one that faces the cabinet. You could get a matching dining room table and chairs, as well, for a complete ensemble.

Your china cabinet, or hutch, as some people call it, makes a great focal piece for any dining room or eating area. Give yours considerate attention to keep it looking and functioning its best for years to come.

For more information on how to keep your china cabinet in beautiful condition, Visit The Cabinet Case.

Thanks to teen movies, many people have this stereotypical idea of cheerleaders as being ditzy and mean. However, there are a great many life-lessons that can be learned during your time on the team that have surprising application in the business world.

1. Getting to the top of the pyramid means taking a few risks.
The person at the top of the pyramid is the one who is willing to take the risks, usually in the form of a backflip or a layout. It helps to be light, nimble, and flexible. Since you are the person with the farthest to fall, you have to be able to rely on the stability of the team suporting you.

Fortunately, in business no one actually tosses you ten feet into the air and expects you land on your feet.

Well, almost never.

2. Step lightly on your way to the top.
You can’t simply manipulate and coerce your way to the top of the pyramid. Well, you can, but then when it comes time to perform a trust fall, you may have a slight problem.

This corollary of point number one seems to have escaped quite a few people. Some seem to think that “underlings” are meant to be stepped on, climbed over, and not-so-subtly kicked on the way up. It’s one thing to accidentally land on someone’s foot, but some people leave a trail of crushed clavicles and contusions. These are the same people who discover that when they are in trouble, no one will return their calls.

Make sure you know the difference between who is “underneath you” and who is “holding you up” – it’s a big one.

3. Keep cheering loudly, even you are winning.
This is a marketing lesson if ever there was one. So you’ve landed the big client. Maybe you’ve landed several. Don’t stop marketing your company and looking for new clients just because you are currently busy. Projects end, businesses change, decision-makers come and go – make sure you’ve got new clients lined up. It’s the only way to keep your company growing, your cash flowing, and V-I-C-T- oh nevermind.

4. Having the lead at halftime doesn’t mean you can slack for the last half of the game.
So you were first to market with your product, or maybe you built a better mousetrap.

Right now there is someone out there thinking about how they can capture your market share with a bigger, better, faster version.

Besides, in business the game doesn’t actually end – you might be winning at a given moment, but you never can say you’ve “won.”

(I know: that was a stretch for cheerleading. But cheerleaders need to stretch.)

5. As mom used to say, “if you are going to do a backflip in a miniskirt, you’d better be wearing your best underneath.”
Actually, when mom said it, I think there was a bus involved somehow, but close enough.

Don’t call attention to practices that you don’t actually want scrutinized. Better still, don’t get involved in practices that can’t stand up to scrutiny. Sooner or later someone is going to examine what’s behind the hype.

Sometimes it’s vapourware, and sometimes it’s fraud. Sometimes it’s just a matter of making an announcement of your latest greatest product so far in advance of it actually coming to market that the buzz comes and goes without paying off in terms of sales.

Whatever the cause, get your house in order before throwing the doors open. Sooner or later, someone is going to ask that question.

For more details, see: Hollinger, Enron, or Worldcom. Of course, it’s best not to get mental images of Bernard Ebbers wearing a miniskirt.

© 2005 Gisela McKay. Gisela McKay is Chief Technology Officer of pixcode Inc.
Gisela envisions new applications for technology, and then makes sure they become reality. Some of her projects include: NaturalHealthcare.ca, CanadaEventsCalendar.ca, and BusinessPartnerships.ca.
Gisela wrote this article to combat that common exclamation: “YOU were a cheerleader? But you seem so smart!”

Making a living out of selling Logo Designs can be fraught with danger. Cuthroats willing to slash your throat on street corners, drug crazed thugs and conniving conmen are just some of the things to avoid. Its a jungle out there so make sure your logo design is bulletproof.

Buy Low – Sell high
In terms of outlay the resources you’ll need to produce your logo designs are pretty minimal and the returns can be huge. What you’ll need is either a pen and paper or in todays modern fangled world a mouse and computer to produce your designs. Pop along to your local electrical retailer and see what offers they’ve got on for computers. Alternatively make one yourself out of an old radio and a broken down TV. Hey presto a fully functioning desktop publishing empire for the price of a cup of tea.

Look close to home for design inspiration
Now that you’re fully set up to produce quality logo designs, you’ve actually got to come up with some rather fancy ideas. A good place to go for inspiration is the front living room where you’ll be amazed to find lots of branded products just waiting to be copied and served up as your own logo design ideas. Another place you might want to look at is your own kitchen. Go on, take a look in your fridge – it’s brimming with things like cream cheese, beefburgers and probably some skanky vegetables. If that doesn’t inspire you to create, I don’t know what will

Hands up who wants a logo?
Your hardest task in making your logos pay for your living is going to be finding anyone vaguely interested in what you have to offer. Once you’ve asked your small circle of friends and family for the umpteenth time whether they want to pay you to produce a logo for them, its time to look at advertising your services to a wider audience. Try producing a TV commercial using a movie camera and the help of a local TV production crew. Once your ad is shown on primetime TV those orders will start to rollin…

…or they would have done, but for one fact on this journey of self discovery we forgot to build ourselves a website or leave a contact number for people to call. In hindsight remember to have a website designer build you a logo design website before you spend thousands on producing your tv ad. OK, for arguments sake lets say we had a website ready beforehand and now we’ve got something like 200 logos to produce, how are we going to cope? Outsource, my friend and soon like this article recommends – you’ll be earning BIG BIG moneys baby. Damned right.

Gambling is no longer just about the bright lights and dizzying d©cor of conglomerate, Vegas-style hotel-casinos anymore. With the advent of the Internet, thousands of online casinos have cropped up offering a new gambling experience to casino goers around the world. No more searching for parking at a casino. No more vying for a spot at a table at a busy casino. No more searching for an available slot machine. It’s all right there at your fingertips, right in the comfort of your own home.

Online casinos are the new wave of gambling for all gamblers. There are thousands of games that you can gamble at online casinos. From Craps and Poker, to Roulette and Slots. There is something for everyone. If poker is more your style, you can choose from a variety of poker games at an online casino as well, including Texas Hold’em, Five Card stud, and more. If chance games are more suited to your gambling style, you can try out one of the online casinos craps tables, roulette tables, keno or slot machines. Online casinos offer a great way to learn a new casino game that you may not be comfortable playing at a regular casino. It affords you the opportunity to gain some gambling experience with the game before you try your hand at a table in a casino.

However, never assume that just because you have played a game in a casino, you know how to play the game at an online casino. When you visit an online casino, the rules of the games offered are usually the same as the rules of the games played at a physical casino but not always. Nevertheless, be sure to read the terms and conditions pertaining to any gambling you plan to partake in. Some online casinos base their rules on European guidelines and such guidelines may differ slightly to what you’re familiar with.

So if you haven’t checked out an online casino, it is well worth it. Many players are touting the praises of online casinos and online gambling as being a new way for people to enjoy gambling without the pressures of being at a physical casino. What are you waiting for? Visit an online casino and find out what the fuss is all about.

Adel Awwad is the webmaster of Online Casinos – Copyright © 2005 www.casinoguide.ws All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely redistributed in its unedited form and on the condition that all copyright references are kept intact along with the hyperlinked URLs.

The inability to pull the trigger on key marketing decisions is a curious problem. On one hand, a properly selected, well-conceived business to business marketing strategy is the key to a company’s growth and expansion. For many companies that have been struggling, or are stalled, implementing a marketing solution that will generate leads and sales is Priority One. So, why is it that such a decision is often put off with some form of “we think we will wait?”

Many business owners and execs have no sense of the tremendous liability of waiting to start a business to business marketing effort. By waiting, they’re not confronting how the game is played. Business competition is like a race. When you’re not moving forward, you’re losing ground.

Although clearly there can be a legitimate reason to delay a business-to-business marketing strategy, there are also reasons that sound reasonable, but which are thinly veiled excuses to put off decision making. Famous examples include: “Even though we’re interested, we’re not going to start a marketing effort until things improve first,” “We think marketing will help, but we want to wait until the end of the year,” and “We’ve got to get our ducks in a row so let’s talk again in several months.”

There are immediate and long-term benefits that can be achieved through a full marketing publicity program that illustrate why “waiting” is counter-productive to your strategy.

An aggressive online marketing publicity program designed to generate Internet news exposure can drive up the client’s keyword rankings on Google and Yahoo!. Within weeks of beginning such a program, a properly distributed press release can drive qualified traffic to your website and stimulate call-in leads. Furthermore, dramatic increases in Google rankings can occur in a few months.

60 percent of all Internet sales go to the companies in the top five search results, so every single day that your company is not at the top it is missing out on legitimate sales opportunities that are being captured by the competition. Generating a large volume of articles published in print is also a critical element in a business to business marketing strategy. but there are inevitable delays in this process. For instance, editors that are approached today with editorial material will likely be working on an issue that won’t be out for two to four months. Waiting to start only compounds the delay and places the company’s recovery further into the future.

The sooner you implement an appropriate business to business marketing strategy strategy, the sooner you will benefit from the leads and sales that will result.

Author, John Elliott, founder and president of Power PR, Inc., has been an authority in public relations and marketing for more than 36 years. As a public relations executive, he has been instrumental in landing hundreds of pages and hundreds of hours of radio and television coverage for his various local, national, and international clients and employers, and has secured press coverage for political, art, sports, telecommunications, manufacturing, medical, scientific, and many other organizations. More information can be found at http://www.powerpr.com.

Bowflex is a subsidiary of Nautilus Fitness who have been in the exercise equipment business since 1986. Nautilus also owns Schwinn, Stairmaster and Trimline and they’re the second largest producer of exercise equipment in the world.

Bowflex is perhaps better known for their range of home gyms, however they have also come out with several treadmills that add competition to the already crowded mid-priced treadmill market.

Starting around $1100 up to $1999 (MSRP), Bowflex offers 3 treadmill models: the 3 series, 5 series and 7 series treadmill.

Are Bowflex treadmills a good value? Here is a review of the pros and cons of Bowflex treadmills to help you decide for yourself.

Pros:

Bowflex treadmills are sleek, attractive machines. They fold up to save space and have Softdrop decline which makes unfolding your treadmill easier. Built-in wheels also helps you to move your treadmill around if space is tight.

Motor power ranges from 1.75 HP to 3.0 which is fairly average in this price range. All treadmills offer built in workout programs and heart rate monitoring so you can stay in your target heart rate zone while exercising.

Bowflex treadmills offer Strike Zone deck suspension cushioning to make your workouts a little more comfortable and the higher end treadmills also come with 3 speed built-in fans to keep you cool.

The best part about Bowflex treadmills are probably their warranties which cover the frame for 15 years, motor for 10 years, parts/electronics for 2 years and labor for 1 year. Although there are similar treadmills with longer warranties, this is still an excellent warranty that will give you peace of mind just in case something goes wrong with your machine.

How do users rate them? Amazon users give 4.5 stars to the Bowflex Series 3 treadmill (not bad considering it’s an economy treadmill) and 5 out of 5 stars to the Bowflex series 7 treadmill.

The most popular treadmill features with buyers are the solid feel, professional look and ease of construction. (However it is only fair to point out that there are still very few user reviews.)

Consumer Reports also rated the Bowflex Series 7 treadmill a ‘Best Buy’ in their February 2006 ratings, giving it an “Excellent” rating in Quality, Exercise Range, and Ergonomics.

Cons:

Treadmill experts have reported noise problems with some of the treadmills due to the plastic parts. This can cause an extremely annoying rattling sound when using your treadmill.

Also, at this price range, competition is fierce and there are several other brands that may offer you more for your money, especially in the area of warranties, consoles and cushioning.

Conclusion:

Bowflex treadmills are getting very positive reviews and they do offer some great warranties. If you really love the Bowflex name, you’ll no doubt be happy with a Bowflex treadmill. However at this price range there is a lot of competition and you might want to shop around a bit before making your final decision.

Kathryn O’Neill is chief editor for http://www.TreadmillReview.net, a consumer oriented website focusing on the home treadmill market.

For more individual treadmill reviews visit: http://www.TreadmillReview.net/Individual_Treadmill_Reviews.html

No businessman takes joy in making money on other people’s misfortune such as a devastating hurricane during the 2005 Atlantic tropical hurricane season. However, a smart business or corporate image program which specializes in branding can actually make the most of it by putting their marketing efforts toward helping the local community that was devastated or destroyed by the damage.

Most corporations that help people and those companies who help the community in their time of need are not often forgotten. It is the right thing to do from a business standpoint and from a moral standpoint. It is a good time to build corporate brand and give a little back to the community that has supported you throughout the years.

In fact if you help them in their time of need they may just help you when the chips are down, when there is a market sector rotation in your industry or the economy is in a downturn. It is important to plan ahead for your business and the potential eventuality of a major category and catastrophic hurricane in your area.

By thinking ahead and understanding your supply chain and your ability as a large company to do the most for the common good you’ll find yourself able to increase sales and help people, while still building your brandname. This is fair for all concerned and build long-term brand loyalty. Please consider this in 2006 and do the right thing.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/