• Series Y2K+4 All the news we think you can use. November 09, 2004
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  Driven Perception is a way to manipulate people who are too busy to pay attention to what is really happening around them.
  •	An Introduction From Jeff Glaze Jeff Glaze Editor "Buy my eye-opening ebook!" from Jeff Glaze, The editor of AtlantaEvent.com		Greetings! New developments have been made in the delivery of the NewsFlash. We now have an RSS News feed available that will help to overcome the challenges of getting email through the spam blockers. What is RSS? RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering summaries of regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSS RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving summaries of the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News and Amazon.com. So we added some information on AtlantaEvent.com home page on how you can download, setup and install the news reader and subscribe to the NewsFlash with it. You can find it at the top of the home page where you sign up for the newsletter. Just read the instructions. Or CLICK HERE to get your reader and instructions. On another note, I received an advance copy of the new "Guerrilla Marketing" book from Jay Conrad Levinson and Al Lautenslager and it appears that AtlantaEvent.com and myself have been included in it. It comes out in February to the general public and currently we occupy the first page of chapter 12 on business networking. And Finally, we are developing a new site that is for the entire world, not just Atlanta. It is called Biz-Informer.com. This new business information web site will include information, articles and products from some of the foremost authors and speakers in the fields of business development and motivation and all of them will have to pass our stringent test for quality and integrity to participate on the site. This site will become the most comprehensive site of it's kind over the next year. As always, your input will be greatly valued as we go forward with the development. We have some great articles for you this week, and my last word is the editorial at the bottom. Have a great week! Jeff Glaze www.AtlantaEvent.com Editor Take our Controversial New Poll "Freedom Of Speech" at AtlantaEvent.com Click Here
  			Five@Five Meeting This Month
  •	Five@Five This Month:		AtlantaEvent.com's Own Business After Hours - Five@Five Business After Hours Networking Tuesday: November 16 Five@Five Midtown/Buckhead 5:00 - 7:30PM @ Santino's Di Roma :: $5 At the Door and you get a free Advantage Card :: Free Appetizers, Door Prizes and More! This meeting is held at: Santino's Di Roma 230 10th Street ATLANTA, GA 404-892-9004 Near The Corner of 10th and Piedmont If you have never been to Five@Five before, now is the time to check one out. Find all of the meeting details on the calendar at AtlantaEvent.com.
  			Feature Article
  •	What Is An Investment Ready Business Plan By Howard Schwartz		A Business Plan, as all good entrepreneurs starting out in life should know is the foundation, or rather a springboard, towards the establishment and growth of a new business. A business plan is an essential tool for companies raising capital – and your business plan needs to be Investor Ready. What is an Investor Ready business plan? An investor ready business plan is a document that has been professionally prepared to meet the needs of both Venture Capitalists and Angel investors. In your Business Plan, you should be able to see your own project through the investor's eye. Your plan must be able to answer the concerns of an investor. The investors, both VC's and angels, are risking their hard earned capital by investing in your venture in the hope of long term returns that are worth many times their original investment. An Investor Ready Business Plan demonstrates to investors that you are an expert in your industry and that you have a clear mission. An entrepreneur addresses these needs by preparing a comprehensive and detailed view of their business objectives and goals. Some important sections that address different concerns of the investors are below: Management Investors invest in management - not just ideas. It is very important that you express your knowledge, passion and dedication to your business as best as you can. The competence of your team along with their experience levels and their commitment levels are also factors that investors look into before making their investment decisions. Customers It is important to communicate to the investors that you understand the needs and requirements of your customers and to articulate your marketing strategy within your business plan. Product/Service Description A complete description of the product or the services offered by you should be outlined in detail. A description of the overall market for your product or service, along with the details of your customer base is essential. The investors need to know the reach and the kind of customers your product / service is catering to. Marketing Plan One of the most important sections of your business plan is your marketing plan. This section will outline your sustainable competitive advantage to your investors. In a way assure them why you will succeed where others have failed. This section is where you include a definitive description of your customers, market size, demographics, characteristics, growth prospects, trends and sales potential per product / service category. Here is where the pricing strategies are outlined and how they can directly influence the growth potential of each product /service. It is also important to include the future growth, market share and trend influences. Barriers to Entry Along with giving the details of what your product / service is and who your customers are, you also have to inform your investors how you will you prevent your competitors from taking away your customers. The barriers to entry section outlines your business strategy to keep your competitors at bay and grow in the market. Investors need to feel comfortable about the soundness of your strategy before they invest in your venture. Visit here to contact us to learn more about writing an investor ready business plan: http://www.investorbusinessplan.com/writing-business-plan.html For more in-depth information on Business Plans, you can visit our site at: http://www.investorbusinessplan.com Howard Schwartz is a Business Plan Consultant and a partner in investorbusinessplan.com. He is based at Stanford, Connecticut, and has helped many young entrepreneurs start out on their business careers by preparing a comprehensive business plan for them. He can be contacted on info@investorbusinessplan.com and at 203-494-3344.
  	Coming In January: Jack Canfield of "Chicken Soup For The Soul" Fame. His new business book is coming out and he will be appearing Live In Atlanta. Keep an eye out for info on AtlantaEvent.com
  			Feature Article
  	10 Tips to Use Giveaways Effectively By Susan Friedmann		Walk around any trade or consumer show and you will be able to collect a bag full of advertising specialties, or giveaway items all designed to promote. But look a little more closely. How many really do an effective job? How clearly do they get a message across? Is the message sufficiently visible? Is the giveaway useful or unique enough that you would want to keep and use it? All these questions, and more, need to be considered before jumping into the giveaway game. Everyone enjoys receiving a gift, even if it is "just a little something." Gift giving creates a favorable impression. It can build goodwill, be an incentive, communicate a message and create awareness. When thinking about advertising specialties for your next show, consider the following ten questions: 1. What do you want to achieve by giving away a premium item? Your giveaway items should be designed to increase your memorability, communicate, motivate, promote or increase recognition. It is important not only that the message have an impact, but also the premium itself. 2. How will you select your premium item? There is a multitude of different items you could consider as a premium. However, which one will best suit your purpose? To select the right item, you need to decide your objective. Do you want it to enhance a theme; convey a specific message or educate your target audience? A clear purpose should help make your selection process easier. A promotional specialist can also help you make an effective selection. Remember that your company image is reflected in whatever you choose to give away. 3. Whom do you want to receive your premium? Having a clear objective for your premium item will also help you decide who should receive it. You may consider having different gifts for different types of visitors. You might have different quality gifts for your key customers, prospects and general passers by. 4. How does your giveaway tie into your marketing theme? Is there an item that naturally complements your marketing message? Have the message imprinted on the item and make sure that your company name, logo and phone number appear clearly. An important aspect of any gift is to remember who it was from long after the fact. 5. What is your budget? The price range for premium items is enormous. Quality, quantity and special orders, all impact the price. Establish a budget as part of your exhibit marketing plan. Consider ordering the same item for several different shows. The greater the quantity of your order, the lower the individual unit price. 6. What must visitors do to qualify for a gift item? There are several ways to use your premium effectively. For example, as a reward for visitors participating in a demonstration, presentation or contest; as a token of your appreciation when visitors have given you qualifying information about their specific needs; as a thank you for stopping at the booth. Avoid leaving items out for anyone to take. This diminishes value and has little or no memorability factor. 7. Will your giveaway directly help your future sales? Consider handing out a discount coupon or a gift certificate that requires future contact with your company for redemption. Consider premiums that will help generate frequent visits to customers and prospects, such as calling you for free refills. 8. How does your premium item complement your exhibiting goals? Premiums can be used to pre qualify your prospects. One company uses playing cards. Prior to the show, they send "kings" to their key customers, "queens" to suppliers, "jacks" to new or hot prospects. They request that the cards are brought to the booth in exchange for a special gift. When the cards are presented, the booth staff already know certain information about the visitor. They can then act on their previous knowledge and use time with the visitor more productively. 9. How will you inform your target audience about you giveaway item? A sufficiently novel or useful giveaway can actively help to draw prospects to your booth. So make sure your prospects know about it. Send a "tickler" invitation with details of the giveaway, or create a two-piece premium, sending one part out to key prospects prior to the show and telling them to collect the other half at your booth. 10. How will you measure the effectiveness of your premium? Establish a tracking mechanism to measure the success of your giveaway. If it is a redemption item, code it so that you know it resulted from the show. Post-show follow-up could include a question about the premium - did visitors remember receiving it and how useful was the item. After the show, critique your giveaway with your exhibit team: Did it draw specific prospects to the booth? Was it eye-catching enough to persuade passers by to stop? Did your customers find it useful? Did it project the right corporate image? There are plenty of exciting premiums for you to choose from so that you can avoid the usual pens, pencils and key chains. Make your premium work for you and it will be money well invested. Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Go to http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com to sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.
  			Editorial
  •	The Last Word An Editorial From Jeff Glaze www.besomeone.org "Helping Children One Move At A Time"		Feeding Frenzy? What the heck?!! Have you ever been so hungry that you would devour your cat if you didn't have to look at the expression on it's face while you clean it? Imagine what it would be like to be that hungry. Hungry for food, hungry for truth, hungry for the answers. What a horrible-wonderful experience if all of us were hungry for the truth, for the answers. I have been listening to people on multiple news programs ask what happened last week. I think I know what happened. I am going to try to explain it in "Jeff Speak". Have you ever heard of rooting for the underdog? A lot of times there is a team that is so pathetic that people actually cheer them on just to see if they can pull out a win. People bet on the long shot often knowing they will lose, but the thrill of a win and the rewards in that situation are sweeter than when they bet on the sure thing. What happens when someone is so run down by the media, that they begin to be pitied instead of hated? What happens when attacks backfire? Have you ever seen a movie where a man is beating his wife and a policeman arrives and starts beating the man? Suddenly the wife jumps on the back of the police officer and starts beating on him to protect the husband who was beating her? This is a real occurrence in law enforcement. Police officers will tell you that they would rather deal with a bank robbery than a domestic dispute, because a bank robbery is more predictable. In America, people are as unpredictable as an abused person. For months preceding the election, elitist actors and figures in the media beat the president about the head and shoulders with false accusations, fictitious documentaries, documents, rumors, books and newspaper articles. Occasionally they would throw in some facts, but being accurate according to facts seemed to be irrelevant to them as long as their agenda was being broadcast to the masses. I think America fought back showing up to vote in greater numbers than ever recorded before in history. Now I am going to change gears... Like I really want to hear from people in Hollywood what my opinion should be? I want rap music artists and drug addicts and perverts to tell me what to do? My answer to that is - bite me! I do not want their opinion, I did not ask for it. I don't want political messages mixed into my entertainment. I do not pay good money to be coerced to agree with them. So my advice to them is get off the stage! It is one thing to voice your opinion, but it is another to try to force others to agree with it and to insult them when they don't agree as being stupid or blind mindless idiots! And that goes for any political activist. Don't tell me what to think! Sure I want my opinions spoon fed to me from people who get paid millions of dollars to pretend (act) to be somebody else. Now to change gears again.... In my opinion JFK lost the election because there was a reality vacuum in his campaign. Too much spin, not enough substance. Every time he was asked what he would do about something, he would say that he had a plan and that he would do everything differently. What kind of crap is that? If you talk to a business prospect who has a problem that he needs solved, will he buy from you if you say " I understand what your problem is and I promise that I will do things differently to help you solve it." Heck no, they want to know exactly what you are going to do! Don't they? Of course they do. So the problem that the Dems had in the election was a too many accusations and not enough tangible answers. Not enough truth and too much spin. As they sit about with head in hands and try to figure out how to win the next one, my advice to them is to stick to the facts, develop real arguments to issues with real solutions. Stop saying what they think people want to hear and just tell it like it is. We can accept the truth, no matter how much it hurts. People are just made that way. But do not bend the truth when you tell it because distorted truths tend to get drowned out by facts and there is always someone eager to investigate the facts and prove you WRONG. And one more thing.... This election was not just a referendum on values. It was a major victory of truth vs. perception. If you take a real close look at the record, you will see that the truth won out. What is the truth? You can't handle the truth! Jeff Glaze www.AtlantaEvent.com Editor The photo at the top of the page is fish in a feeding frenzy taken by me in Mexico. "You can't handle the truth" is pilfered from a movie. The first person to tell me the name of the movie gets a free ebook. email info@atlantaevent.com to win.
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  November 9th, 2004 at 7:55 am

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