AtlantaEvent.com NewsFlash - Reason Vs. The A.C.L.U.

Intro
Jeff Glaze

Jeff Glaze
Editor



"Buy my eye-opening ebook!" from Jeff Glaze, The editor of AtlantaEvent.com

Greetings!

We have one holiday behind us, and two more to go for the year.

I did not participate in the after Thanksgiving shopping this year, instead I stayed at home and worked. I found that when I was out there at 6 AM last year, the cost of the wait in line to save money actually cost me money.

It is the same with a lot of things that we do to save money. In essence we end up trading time for savings. Is that really saving money? Let's take a look at it. If we charge $30 an hour for our services and we spend an 8 hour day shopping that involves mostly waiting in line, we have to save more than $240 on our purchases in order to break even, before we really save anything.

I don't know about you, but I am not buying that many gifts where I can afford to try and balance the line waiting with the savings. The down side of life in America is that when we are out in public, we spend about 10% to 40% of our time out waiting in line. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Ouch!

As technology would have it, we can now do a lot of our shopping online in the comfort of our home. The only problem with that is we then do not get the spirit that comes from the addictive Christmas music playing in the background that we end up humming for the rest of the day. To be around other people just as frustrated as we are does have a kind of community feel to it, does it not?

So as you drove around the mall parking lot last week looking for a spot, did you say to yourself that online shopping was supposed to eliminate that problem? Well fortunately for us it hasn't. Because if it were not for the Malls, many more people would be out of work, and those who go there to shop would be walking the streets aimlessly in search of bargains.

As I looked back on the past year in search of what I had to be thankful for, I found so many things it was impossible to even list them, but I have decided to share with you one of the top things I have to be thankful for.

One of the things I am most thankful for is that I do not, nor do any members of my family live in France.

PLEASE: Visit our entry in the Fast Company magazine Fast 50 Companies of 2004 (you can view it here) and VOTE and comment on it on their site. Favorable ratings will help us win. There was a guy from Illinois that made a negative comment. I need some balance.

I hope you find the articles useful this week and that you can join me at our Holiday celebration on Thursday, it's FR*EE.

Jeff Glaze
www.AtlantaEvent.com Editor

You are invited!

AtlantaEvent.com & Atlanta Business Calendar
Holiday Business Networking Party 5 to 8 p.m.
Copeland's
3365 Piedmont Rd. (just west of Peachtree St.)
Mix, Mingle and Make Business Contacts!
Complimentary hors d'oeuvres ~ Cash Bar
FREE Admission
All Welcome ~ No Reservations Required
Free Validated Parking

For Display Tables call (404) 993-0077 or
e-mail megatrade@earthlink.net

If you advertise in any way, the following information could show you how to find and utilize untold advertising dollars you may not be aware of.

In the mid 80’s I was an account executive for a radio station located in Santa Rosa, California. During that time I became very familiar with what is referred to as co-op advertising.

Co-op advertising is a great source of advertising dollars. And there is so much of it available to people, yet most people know very little, if anything, about co-op dollars.

Interestingly, I was one of the only reps at the station who made sure my clients knew about this benefit. The reason was simple, there was more work involved in getting my clients set up, and yet, there was financial gain for both my client and myself by taking time to help them stretch their marketing dollars.

Co-opting is where you put in money for advertising and the manufacturer of a product you sell also puts in money. Often it is as much as 50% of the campaign. It is a great way to stretch your advertising campaign and to beef up your campaign.

Unfortunately, even though the money is available if conditions are right, many people either aren’t aware of this or if they are they think it’s too much work to meet the criteria. Granted, in some cases it is, but often utilizing co-op money is a great way to stretch your marketing budget.

There are many co-op-advertising opportunities available if you plan to do advertising on the Internet. Not all are good investments though. Check opportunities out very carefully before making a final commitment.

Using co-op dollars is an excellent way to build a stronger relationship with your retail suppliers and to generate a lot more traffic in your store or on to your web site. If the overflow of business is handled correctly you will increase your sales and profits.

The great thing about using co-op dollars when you are dealing with standard media is that your account rep can handle the paperwork for you. Many retailers hesitate using the “hidden” dollars due to feeling intimidated by the paperwork, the unknown.

Not only can the rep help you with the paperwork, they can also help you to build the campaign. However, before you trust them completely, find out what their experience is, what successful campaigns they have spearheaded and get some references. Take the time to do some research up front to save money over the long run.

The reality is, if they are professionals in the truest sense of the word, they will be more than willing to take much of the paperwork burden off of you by handling it. After all, the more value an account rep creates for their clients the greater chance for an ongoing business.

Co-op dollars are not limited to retail businesses. Often, there are hidden dollars for non-profits. There are city and state funds that are set aside to help various organizations increase their visibility and reach.

One nice thing about using co-op dollars from a large manufacturer is that brand names do attract customers to your business—that's why you offer them. Advertising specific well known brands will increase your foot traffic. Harley Davidson has an amazing co-op program they offer to their retailers. It is a primary reason they have done so well. They encourage advertising based on specific guidelines.

It is to the advantage of an advertiser to utilize these dollars. Manufacturers in virtually every industry want to help with advertising costs. They are very aware that when you correctly advertise their brand name product you will probably sell more of it, thus increasing your orders.

The disadvantage of co-op advertising can be the restrictions set by the manufacturer. Often, they have such rigid guidelines about how to design the ad that you may lose all control of creative expression. For example, their logo may have to be positioned in an exact location in order for them to co-op the campaign.

If you are working with someone who claims to be an expert at advertising and they know nothing about co-op dollars they are not the expert they claim to be. Be aware.

Areas that you need to be educated on are program terms and reimbursement schedules. In some cases it can take months to receive reimbursement for a co-op campaign. In other cases, the company you are cooping with will send the money directly to the media source. Be sure to check this information out in order not to run into a cash flow problem.

Advantages of co-op advertising
- Extra money to advertise
- Account executive can do the paperwork
- More frequency

Disadvantages of co-op advertising
- Restrictions by manufacturer
- No guarantee it will work
- Limited creativity in ad copy

Before making a final decision, research your options on co-op advertising. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you discover.

Kathleen Gage is a business advisor, keynote speaker and trainer who helps others gain marketing dominance and visibility within their market. Get Gage’s FR*EE report “Learn How One Salt Lake City Based Business Consultant Made Over 100k from One Idea” by visiting www.kathleengage.com

Building Business Credit

By Gerri Detweiler

Most businesses want to be able to borrow money when they need it, without the owners having to guarantee the loans personally. This means less risk to the owners. But wanting to get credit for your business and actually getting it can be two different things.

One company recently approached us because over the past two years they had created a successful business, with over twenty employees. But they couldn’t get a business loan because they hadn’t taken the time to build a business credit profile and didn’t know where to start.

You may have seen marketing hype about how a business credit profile can overcome a bad personal credit file. In most cases, however, it’s important that small businesses have both good business credit, as well as solid personal credit on the part of the owners. This is especially true in the current environment where investors and venture capitalists aren’t handing money out to just anyone who can breathe and has a business idea! Even established businesses will find it necessary in some cases to provide the business owner’s personal guarantees on some loans or credit cards.

Building business credit is completely different from building personal credit, though your personal credit may be linked in some ways. For example, credit reporting giant Experian sells a business credit score that is based on both the risk of the business and the personal credit of the owner of the company.

In addition, you don’t have the same credit protection laws with business credit that you do with personal credit. So you want to make sure you start out on the right foot, or it can be difficult to make corrections.

The key to properly establishing business credit is twofold:

1. Set up the proper business structure and take basic steps to ensure your business appears “real” and stable to the business credit bureaus. That means getting the proper occupational licenses, and a phone number that is listed with directory assistance in the businesses’ name, among other things. Your business will generally need some form of corporate structure to effectively build a business credit rating.

2. Borrow or buy products and services from companies that will report your credit history to the major business credit reporting agencies such as Dunn & Bradstreet and Experian.

Unlike personal credit ratings, where you can have a small income yet get a top FICO credit score, the best business credit scores are reserved for large stable businesses, those with several million dollars in sales a year and 25–50 or more employees.

But don’t let that stop you! By taking a few careful steps, you can start small and still build a decent business credit rating to get you the borrowing power your venture needs.

A few warnings:

1. Don’t try to “buy” good credit! Some companies will offer to “sell” trade references for a large sum of money. This is a rip off and if the credit reporting agencies find out, they will purge those references.

2. Don’t spend large sums of money on a shelf corporation from a company that “guarantees” you will be able to use it to get loans. More often than not, the company won’t have the kind of credit rating you’ll need to be successful.

3. Don’t try to get business credit as a substitute for bad personal credit. If you have damaged personal credit, work on rebuilding it while you’re building business credit.

Entrepreneurs are usually hard-working, creative and willing to get the job done. Fortunately, those are the same qualities that will help you through the process of building strong business credit. Get started now! For more information about building business credit, visit www.BusinessCreditSuccess.com

About the Author:
Gerri Detweiler is considered one of the country’s top credit experts. She has been interviewed for thousands of radio, television and print new stories including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dateline NBC and many others. She has testified before Congress several times and worked on reform of the national credit reporting laws.

While you sit reading this newsletter do you feel like someone is nibbling away at you? Do you know that there are people out there who are trying to change everything from the way you once knew it to the way they want it to be?

This editorial was in part inspired by the recent attack of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) against the military and the Boy Scouts Of America. This attack stated that because the Boy Scouts mention the name of God in their oath, and that by allowing the Boy Scouts to meet on a military base violates the separation of Church and State.

Excuse me?

So rather than fight the case in court, an order goes out for no more Scout meetings on military bases. Public outrage follows.

Here is what the ACLU is against - the oath of the Boy Scout:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Now let me say that over 35 years ago I was a Boy Scout. I went on camping trips, learned how to use camping gear, tie knots, be a part of a team, and overall to be a good person. I do not remember any religious indoctrination while having this kind of fun and learning these lessons. So as a member of this society and a former Scout, I am outraged!

The ACLU is an organization that pretends to protect our civil liberties. But do you know anything about the founders of this so called protector of the people and the agenda upon which the organization was founded?

If you look at the biographies of the founders of the ACLU you will see what types of people it was established by and give you insight into the true purpose of the organization. Each link below is a founder and the link goes to their biography on line.

Roger Baldwin

Crystal Eastman

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

Below is taken from the ACLU website

The mission of the ACLU is to preserve all of these protections and guarantees:

Your First Amendment rights-freedom of speech, association and assembly. Freedom of the press, and freedom of religion supported by the strict separation of church and state.

Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.

Your right to due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your liberty or property is at stake.

Your right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs. We work also to extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including Native Americans and other people of color; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people; women; mental-health patients; prisoners; people with disabilities; and the poor.

Now I just want to say here that according to the biographies of the founders of the ACLU, which shows each of them to have strong roots within the Socialist party, the last thing that I need is an organization with Socialist roots to be fighting for my rights. In fact if you look at the model of the Socialist type of government that was the former USSR where there were none of the freedoms that we enjoy in this country, there is not a person out there who will ever really benefit from the influence that the ACLU has gained in forming public policy and law in this country.

This is of course my opinion and you may strongly disagree, but when it comes to things like banning the Boy Scouts, I just have to wrap my head in a blanket so when it explodes I don't make a mess on the walls of my office.

I once heard someone make this statement " radical change can never be implemented all at once for the people will rise up against it. Therefore change must occur incrementally so that it is painless and goes unnoticed by the masses".

Our world is changing one lawsuit at a time. The more we ignore it, the more we are losing it. As we move forward it is important to be vocal when we see or hear something that we strongly disagree with. Otherwise we risk losing all that we hold important in this society. One bite at a time.