AC Interpreting

Archive for the ‘Business Development’ Category

Ghostwriting has become a popular and practical solution for people with great ideas but poor writing skills. They hire a ghostwriter to convert their ideas and concepts into a cohesive publishable manuscript. Ghostwriting is a great career for a motivated writer who is willing to write for good money but no recognition or credit.

Who is a Ghost Writer?
A ghostwriter is someone who writes a book, speech, and article or editorial that is published under someone else’s name. Some people have great ideas, recognizable names and business but either do not have the time or cannot write well. They supply their ideas, notes, and drafts to a good writer. This ghostwriter will write, research, interview, edit the manuscript and take the book up to the publication stage. The book will then be published under the name of the celebrity. Their name and photo will grace the cover and win all the laurels and praise. A ghostwriter, depending on contract, may earn anywhere from $100 per page to a split in royalties.

Qualities of a Ghost Writer:

1. Strong writing skills. Dazzle the contact trade magazines or publication with superb writing and editing skills. Write interesting, grammatically correct and knowledgeable articles in prestigious publications to draw notice towards your work.

2. Maintain confidentiality. Ghostwriters should keep their connection with their work confidential. They should be willing to work around the client’s schedule. They even may be required to travel along with them if the work demands.

3. Strong ego. Most ghostwritten books are promoted as written by clients. They must have a strong ego to withstand the client’s praise and accolades for actually doing their work.

4. Network. Build a good network to get good work. Keep in touch with editorial firms who hire writers for any work.

5. Create online presence. An online and offline presence helps customers to find you. Customers actively look for your services through Google, on mailing lists, blogs and various online means. Promote yourself over good domain names to improve your availability.

6. Understand affiliate marketing. There is lucrative money in affiliate programs. A good ghostwriter can keep up the flow and continuity of the program to keep it interesting and going.

7. Search engine content writer. Imaginative freelance writers can use very high traffic keywords in certain high-ranking article directories to produce content. Content based on keyword phrases pulls in high traffic through clicks, resulting in more sales and cash inflow. The ghostwriter can build a well-structured and attractive resource box at the bottom of the article on a client’s site.

Understand the publishing industry and market trends. Do polish up your writing skills; once your credibility as a ghostwriter is established, there will be no dearth of business for you.

Any business development concept, irrespective of the nature of the business, demands an extensive thinking process towards defining the prospects, i.e., establishing a realistic vision along with a clear recital of what it takes to realize the chartered vision. The same theory applies to the office supplies business, wherein while planning a business development phase you must be very clear about your expectations and the time frame and resources you think you can spare. For instance, keeping in mind the long-term vision, while looking out for development venues and trying luck with ideas, it is important to market the need catered to by your product rather than the product itself.

Think about innovative marketing concepts that sell the need like, “Office supplies are your assistants who help you achieve what you desire. So buy your dreams and not mere products.” This is how your marketing strategy should work. Therefore, to start with, pick one strong proposition to market and differentiate and based on this unique idea take up the marketing initiative. The choices are many, like you could either cash on easier deliveries and convenience at your doorstep or alternatively your products could be more economic. However, do not try to cast about in all directions at one time. Be more specific in your approach.

While trying to develop, many businesses often encounter situations when few products are easy to sell while another selected category always seems to occupy your warehouses. A way to pass off your lesser-sold products is by combining them with other more-sought products. Introduce better combo prices and get rid of such lagging products.

Your target segment can be easily defined based upon the usage criterions. Age and other factors play no role. All that matters is usage and price. So in order to be affordable for all, you can categorize your offerings in a few racks, while one refers to the high-priced exquisite products and another could come under the value heading. This strategy works well because it creates an internal comparison among your products and customers choose the cheaper ones, thinking that they are getting a good deal. At the same time, a section predominantly opts for the expensive items and therefore is interested in your collection.

Other ways to market and grow your business could include advertising in the local newspapers (small black-and-white advertisement would do), getting some brochures printed, mailing to prospective clients, and sending out greetings and thank-you cards to regular clients.

Growing in an office supplies business is not a very tedious task, especially if you have the right vision in place along with a concrete strategy to take it forward from there. The above ideas will help you in this endeavor and, if deployed with perfect timing, can work wonders.

There are few business activities as complex, and at the same time, as financially rewarding, as hotel development. As in any endeavor of this nature, in addition to having the idea to develop, which means literally, from the American Heritage Dictionary, “to bring it to being”, “to expand or to realize the potential”, or” to convert to a specific purpose, such as a tract of land”, one must have, or acquire, the expertise in the finished product to be developed.

For an individual or partnership, there is more than one way to acquire the product expertise. The most obvious is to start a partnership where one or more of the partners have hotel development experience or hotel operating expertise. The latter experience is especially helpful when considering the project, in regards to what type of hotel would be built, business oriented, tourist location, resort, full service, limited service, high-rise, low-rise, high density or otherwise, to name a few.

A hotel encompasses so many different types and kinds of properties, that there is no single prototype to define the concept, except that it is primarily a facility that provides temporary overnight lodging. It also may or may not include amenities such as food and beverage services, vehicle parking, and a host of other services, depending on the type. This wide diversity is precisely why the trade association for hotels has changed their name from the American Hotel Association, to the American Hotel and Motel Association, and then to today’s name, the American Lodging Association.

So, where to start? With the chicken or the egg, find a tract of land near hotel business generators to support a hotel and then decide what kind of hotel would fit on that land, bearing in mind parking, on grade, a subterranean garage, etc., or have a particular kind of hotel development product in mind and look for a site to accommodate such hotel development product. The latter appears to make the most sense, that is, to look for land to allow the building of the hotel and its amenities of a product that you have in mind to begin with. The reason for this is threefold:

1. Based on the opening two paragraphs, you and/or your partners have developed an idea of what you are trying to do even if it is an incomplete vision. You already have in mind the area and a rough classification, city, suburbs, highway, and what the generators are, business travelers, tourists, university students, etc.

2. To finance, and succeed in the hotel development business, you will have to have a franchise. There are no more “Dew Drop Inns” or other complete independents being built, due to brand awareness among the traveling public, offering service and safety assurances in every price category. So you need to have an idea of what franchises are out there and at least their rough site requirements.

3. Every hotel franchisor has a complete prototype of their hotel development property, together with the site requirements to accommodate them. So to look for a site without knowing what you are looking for is counter- productive. Zero in on the sites that fit your franchise requirement, and develop and build from the franchisors prototype.

So there you have it. Visit online with Google or other search engines to find a list of hotel development franchisors. Contact those of your choice asking each of them for a UFOC (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular).

Consider all of their qualifications, conditions and fees as well as the type of hotel property to develop, check the area competition, and begin you search with established parameters from several franchisors for your site.

Earlier today I wrote part three of a series of articles designed to discuss the changing face of Internet marketing. When I finished part 3, I had no intention of writing another article before day’s end. However, after relaxing this evening with a couple of good movies, I decided to take one last compulsive check of my sites and posts. I use a special little program that was developed by a friend of mine to monitor the activity on my links. The program is a bit like these URL shorteners. It allows me to tag a descriptive name to the end of any link in my range of domains and have that link automatically register the visit before continuing on to the destination URL.

This is a very useful tool when doing PPC or CPA marketing. It keeps your campaigns clear in your head as to which one are producing and which ones are not. But when I when onto that application tonight for one last check, I had to do a double take. I launched a campaign today on a little known search engine to gauge the interest in mobile device marketing. I launched the campaign at 4 pm Pacific time. When I just checked moments ago (11:40 pm Pacific Time), the traffic on that link was up a whopping 4,400%!

I have never seen a link take off so fast. And it is not like the link is highly advertised. The mobile market is the very leading edge of the coming gold rush. There has been very little discussion about it on the boards and forums. I bid only 2 to 4 cents per click, yet the site is getting hammered! The only reason I write this is to illustrate the importance of staying current with leading edge trends in Internet Marketing. I might have missed this one if it were not for a friend of mine sending me a short video he had done on the subject.

It also illustrates how quickly we can react to market changes. In less than 24 hours, I went from having no active interest in the mobile market to having three sites and a PPC campaign dedicated to it. This is the speed you need to develop in order to rock your Internet empire as well. All you really need to do is gather a few tools and have at lease one domain you can use. From there you need to learn how to be organized and how to conduct efficient market research. I say that only because I’ve seen many gurus advise all kinds of market research that usually involve you once again buying their $97 wiz-bang keyword-SEO tool so that you can know where the bones are buried.

I use one paid tool and three free tools and my research is done in 20 minutes. I use one premium WordPress theme that is so versatile it’s like having a dozen premium themes. I use about a dozen excellent plugins and that is about it. It helps a bit that I do my own graphics, but if someone has no skill or connections in this area, it is not a show stopper. I know some great places to find royalty-free graphics.

In the next article, I am going to attempt to drill down a bit more into this mobile device marketing concept.

Understand the handling of the business before contemplating outsourcing it offshore. Determine what facet of the business you want to outsource, why you want to do so, who will handle the offshore project and the time frame for its completion. Contact the outsourcing business company to do the necessary things.

Tips for outsourcing:

1. Define the current process. It allows you to understand the requirements and details of what actually needs to be done. It should be non-ambiguous and offer a measurement method. Information of specific customer queries and time required is of great help while transferring that process over to your new outsourcing partner.

2. Do a cost analysis of the proposed process. Have a realistic and solid estimate of the current operating costs of the process under consideration for outsourcing. Consider all the costs involved, even the marginalized expenditure to have a clear picture. The in-house calls can be answered within a certain time because of available support, but on transfer it can take longer both in time and in cost. Consider the costs honestly to work out the beneficial cost saving for the business.

3. Manage the relationship. Make efforts to establish a good relationship. Have a clear understanding of transfer terms. Communication channels should always be open with a flexible attitude. A liaison officer should take responsibility to address staff concerns of their jobs. He should keep the staff informed and have an effective and regular dialogue within the company. Transfer of employees should conform to employment legislation. A flexible contract benefiting both parties can be drafted. It allows you to innovate to changing circumstances and renegotiate the contract before the term ends for the employee’s benefit.

4. Aim for smooth transition. Even with good planning, a lot of times the transition or migration of an employee can cause many problems. It can be litigator in nature or lead to severance of a good employee. Since it’s a learning curve for both the parties, use this opportunity to modify the service level agreement (SLA) for the future.

5. Measure success. Quantify and measure the benefits your company accrues for outsourcing. The foremost is the financial benefit for the company. It could also lead to notching higher profile and credibility for your company. Outsourcing means fewer defects in your work and greater speed for work completion in optimum cost and time frame.

6. Plan a clear exit strategy. Have a clear exit term integrated in your service level agreement (SLA). Clarify who owns what and how much percentage of both movable/immovable assets. Specify the compensation or severance due in case of end of partnership. This clause is very important for amicable dissolution of collaboration if the relationship ends prematurely or simply runs its course.

Off shoring a part of your business makes sound economic sense, as it can lead to substantially reduced operating costs. A clear understanding of the outsourced work will avoid many a pitfall later and yield better results.

VCs, Angels, BDCs, what are they? How are they different? How can an ordinary investor get involved? Do they offer an opportunity for high yield dividend payouts during retirement? These are all questions that anyone planning for retirement should know the answers to in order to have the opportunity to include one of the least understood, and highest dividend paying, categories into their portfolio as part of a diversified plan for retirement.

Venture Capitalists (VCs), Angels (accredited investors), and Business Development Companies (BDCs) essentially fulfill the same role: to help small and medium sized companies obtain financing when more traditional means of funding (bank loans) are unavailable. Bank financing almost always requires a certain amount of guarantees such as accounts receivable, inventory, buildings or equipment or other assets that can be held as collateral for a loan or line of credit. Smaller companies, start-ups, or even individuals with an idea for a business, or medium sized companies that don’t have sufficient funds to grow their business often don’t have the capital required, nor do they have the requisite assets or accounts receivable required by traditional banks to meet their strict loan requirements. This is where Angels, VCs, and BDCs come in. Angels are regulated by the SEC and must be “accredited investors” with a net worth of at least $1,000,000 in order to get involved with a private placement of stock which means that they provide funds for a smaller company and in return own a percentage of the business. VCs are generally partnerships of accredited investors that provide the same type of funding. In addition, they often offer other “incubator” type services to help their portfolio companies to prosper, frequently including the placement of their own management personnel on the board of directors or on the management team. In the case of both Angels and private VC firms these activities are, by regulation, the realm of wealthy investors and beyond the reach of most individuals.

As part of a broad base attempt to level the playing field and give smaller investors an opportunity to become involved in growing smaller businesses, congress passed The Investment Company Act of 1940 which, among other things, created a new class of business called Business Development Companies. While similar to VCs in function, unlike VCs, Shares of BDCs are traded on the major exchanges, and anyone can own them. Similar to Real Estate Investment Trusts, BDCs do not pay income tax on their profits as long as they pass along at least 90% of their profits to their shareholders who then pay tax at their individual tax rates. Since they are required to pay out nearly all of their profits to stock holders, BDCs often fund their growth by issuing additional shares. When this occurs, a stockholder, or potential stock holder, must determine whether or not dilution, caused by the sale of the new shares, will be more than made up by the new business that the incoming money will fund. Generally a BDC will announce, at least in broad terms, how the proceeds from the new offering of stock will be used. Additionally, it is important to evaluate how successful the company has been in the past, how leveraged they are, and how management has reacted to changing market conditions. In other words, like any other investment, doing the proper due diligence, and knowing and understanding the company prior to investing is critical in making the right investment choices.

Because of the pass through tax structure as well as the inherent risk in this type of venture, BDCs typically pay significantly higher dividends than the average company. For that reason it makes good sense to consider them as a part of a diversified retirement portfolio. If you are building up a nest egg for retirement, dollar cost averaging into quality BDCs is an excellent way of creating a high yield position as part of your overall mix. If you are in retirement already, quality BDCs can provide an excellent income stream that will continue to payout regardless of market fluctuations.

A word of caution, BDCs should not be bought and forgotten, like most investments, past performance is no guarantee of future results. By the very nature of the business, BDCs frequently change their portfolio of businesses, may change their risk tolerance levels, may change their leverage, may be impacted by changes in interest rates, etc. Fortunately all of this type of information is readily available in annual and quarterly reports, and BDCs are required to publish any material changes in their business. With the proper due diligence, and appropriate vigilance, BDCs make sense for anyone interested in boosting their retirement income through higher dividends. They are especially valuable in IRAs and other tax free venues where the higher yields can compound free of taxation.