by: Charen Smith
See the original article here.

Everyday you meet someone new, which later on can be your new boss or perhaps your new customer. Upon that first meeting, the person makes snap judgments about you: Are you someone trustworthy? Do you look like someone professional and credible? These judgments are often made at lightning speed, mostly in just a span of seven seconds.

In business, first impression is important. Although you can’t stop people from making snap judgments about you, you can always

(Photo credit: s_falkow)

influence those judgments to work in your favor. You can tell them to make positive impression of you and encourage them to trust you. If you can do this effectively, you will be able to develop long lasting relationships with them. It will even result in a sale and repeat purchases if you are able to hold that impression.

So, if you are attending meetings, conferences, and other business events, what’s the best way to make a good first impression? A good marketing material you can invest in is presentation folder printing. Presentation folders when designed well will give you a competitive edge against other business. They will allow you to give your customers and prospects something they can take home with them. If your folder is able to make an immediate impact to your prospects, the more they are likely to keep it, which will help them remember you. If elegantly designed, the folder will serve as a subtle marketing tool that will impress your customers and prospects.

If you want to look professional and polished in front of people, it’s time you get your own presentation folder. Here are a few ideas to help you create the perfect folder to serve as your representation.

- Always include your business cards. Despite what other businesses claim that smartphones and social media are the best way to exchange contact details these days, you should still never go out of your home or office without your business cards. Be sure to include them in your folder so people will have an easy way to getting your contact details. When they open your folder, the first thing they should see is your card. If designed effectively, it would be so much easier for you to convince your prospects to keep your card.

- It’s important to consider the size and shape of your folder. If you want to draw attention to your folder, it would be best to invest in a big folder. You can also go for a unique shape that will add to the visual impact of your folder. Customizing the shape and size will surely stir the curiosity of your customers and prospects. Of course, this will cost you more than using a standard size and shape, but your investment would surely be worth it.

- Use a different material. For instance, instead of using standard paper, you can always opt for a recycled or texture paper. You can also opt for embossing or engraving to give a different texture to your folder.

- Full color printing is always a great way to brighten up your folder. Attractive colors never fail to capture attention. It would be best if you can invest in vibrant impressive colors to make your folder visually appealing.

 Doing something unique with your presentation folder templates will surely help make them creative and attractive. Remember that a visually appealing folder can make the difference between a sale and bankruptcy, so make sure that you folder gives you the best first impression you can ever have.

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Starting a small business takes a lot of planning and the ability to execute your business plans. Though it doesn’t require a big capital for a small business however you cannot lose your capital as this will cause a serious trouble on the financial front at the same time your future expansion plans. If you have knowledge about how to run a business successfully, you won’t be able to take a wrong move that can affect your business plans. Before we go on further to the small business ideas, refer to the tips for running a small business.

• Can it sustain your everyday expenses and can it profit you.

• Can it raise enough funds to get it running for a long time and can become a profitable venture.

• Is it something that is needed everyday and does it has an appeal to sell on a steady basis?

• Is it something that you know how to do and can you do it well?

• Is it something that you like to do and doesn’t mind you at all doing it over and over again?

Now that we know our objective in putting up a small business let’s go forward and see what are the best idea for small business this 2012.

1. Online business – this may include article writing/blogging, virtual assistant, translator, copy writer or bookkeeper, data entry, etc. This is one of the ideal business ideas for beginners would be to take advantage of various online business opportunities. By doing online data entry and online paid survey jobs, you can earn money per hour for your work. The more accuracy and consistency you show in your job, the more work you will get.

2. Mobile apps development – almost all people nowadays possesses a mobile phone and included on the mobile phone is application that people always uses. Calendars, Alarm Clocks, notepads are some example of applications that are commonly downloaded. Whether this is a businessman, a politician, an artist or just an ordinary person has a lot or even tons of mobile application.

3. Make-up artist or hair salons – Providing either makeup artist services or hair salons is yet another interesting small business idea. Makeup artists are in great demand in the fashion and entertainment industry. If you have the required makeup skills and talent, you can start your own company and do the makeup of television and movie stars. By providing good service, you can get long-term contracts which will increase your revenues greatly. The great thing about hair salons is that they are a sure thing. No matter how dismal the economic climate, women will still scrape together the money to get their hair done, even if they have to let their nails go. So hair salons with talented stylists and well-priced services will still be real money makers.

4. Cleaning services (pool, yard, garage etc.) – A cleaning service is a good business proposition for a person who relishes the idea of cleaning apartments, homes and commercial establishments. Housekeeping is an art and people are typically deterred by the prospect of getting grease, tough stains and odors out of carpets, keeping their bathroom clean and eliminating odors from their refrigerator. Hence, a cleaning service can be a steady source of income assuming that there are no immediate competitors. Otherwise, one would have to spend money on advertising and this may eat into one’s profits. Cleaning services can operate round the clock since residential apartments are generally cleaned during the day while commercial buildings are cleaned after office-hours. Considering that cleaning services earn popularity and goodwill through word of mouth, a job that is well done will rarely go unnoticed.

5. Elder assistant or baby sitting – being a babysitter doesn’t require you to have a license, with more parents needing to work and offering a home based child care can be a great way of starting your own business while taking care of your own kids too. The growing numbers of senior baby boomers also provide growing business opportunities for senior care. In-home care and senior residences are the obvious ones, but don’t forget all the related opportunities such as driving, delivery, catering and cleaning services for seniors who want to stay in their homes. You can certainly develop your own business providing care for seniors.

6. Recycler – the best thing of being a recycler is that you’re not just earning your own money and you’re also helping the environment. Average homeowner doesn’t always know where or how to recycle the stuff they’ve got. A pickup truck are all you’d need to start buying or simply offering to remove scrap metal, old computers, electronics, ink cartridges and other recyclable materials.

7. Event management/party planner – Event management or party planning can also be a good option for a small business. Event planners have to organize a particular event by taking into consideration the suggestions given by their clients. This job requires creativity, patience and ability to get work done from people on time. It can help you be a successful event planner if have a good team of creative professional that can help you organize the event under you.

8. Online selling – whether this is a pre-loved or brand-new stuff you can still earn big bucks. This is being popularized by e-bay. There are still some people who have a whole lot of money and are willing to spend it on the name products that matter. Luxury handbags, scarves, and shoes for women are still selling well, for instance.

9. Social media consultants – With the ever rising of the social media era and the giant social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and You tube, businesses have been taking advantage of this to gain more exposure for their brands and products. With more than 800 million active users in Facebook alone, business promotion in this top social networking site is now a priority for business owners and marketers. If you have the social media marketing skills that can outsource likes and follows for your client’s business, then this business can help you earn cold cash on the Internet.

10. Pet related services such as pet sitter, pet cleaning and grooming services – Most Canadians and Americans loves pet especially dogs and feeding, caring for them and pampering their pooches a spending priority. Kennels, doggie daycare, dog treat bakeries and dog resorts are few of the things that you may want to venture in.

These are not necessarily ideas for businesses that anyone can start however you can get some idea on the list above. But in my opinion, these are business opportunities that are going to provide real chances to make money in 2012 and beyond. Business that is done right, in the right place and for the right people may be profitable enterprises for years to come. If you’ve been considering a sale in 2012, take your time and do it right. Plan ahead, research your market and stand out from the competition. Knowing the sales process is half the battle. With proper preparation, you can ensure a stress free transition and a financially successful exit from your business.

More detailed information and useful advice can be found at http://www.funded.com/ Created by Mark Favre, it offers expertise and assistance with developing and funding your concept, including a private forum for queries and discussions. If you need access to investors and funding providers, please do check our website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Favre

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Not all of us do it when we expect to be out of the office for longer than a day or so, but they’re usually pretty bland. I’m speaking of the dreaded “out of office” automatic email reply. Most of us put something about how we’ll be gone on such and such date, but will return on such and such other date, and you’ll get back to them ASAP. However, if they need immediate assistance, they can call blah blah blah. 

A Novel Out-of-Office Email

Sound a lot like your last one? Yeah, us too. Not for Josh Kopelman. He came up with something much better than usual. Check it out below:__________________________I am currently out of the office on vacation.I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return — but that’s not true. My Blackberry will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognize that I’ll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent.That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I’m going to experiment with something new. I’m going to leave the decision in your hands:

• If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I’m on vacation, please resend it to interruptyourvacation@[redacted].com and I’ll try to respond to it promptly.
• If you think someone else at [the company] might be able to help you, feel free to email my assistant, and she’ll try to point you in the right direction.

Otherwise, I’ll respond when I return…Warm regards, Josh________________.

What This Out-of-Office Email is Really Saying

Piper Weiss from Yahoo! Shine pretty much nailed the analysis of this:“Let’s examine what Josh has done. First he’s humanized the auto-reply robot message. Second he’s implied that not only would you be interrupting his vacation if you reach out to him, but you’d also be upsetting his wife, which somehow feels much worse. Thirdly, he’s created an email account that forces users to write the words “interrupt your vacation” in order to follow through with the disturbance, just in case someone has forgotten what they’re about to do. Josh, you are a psychological mastermind. Hat’s off. ”We couldn’t agree more.

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Is it one of your pet peeves when you order a drink from somewhere and it’s filled with nothing but ice? I hate when this happens as it seems to be occurring on a regular basis as businesses look to increase their profit margins while decreasing cost. Do we need to ask for light ice on every drink order now? Let’s revoke against this notion. Please write in the comments on how we can change this horrible trend in the restaurant business.

Photo by: Christian Ferrari

Be sure to have a recent copy of your credit report from all three of the major bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union so that you can keep track of your credit and check it over carefully to be sure that everything is accurate. If something is incorrect, especially if it is not in your favor then file a dispute; the credit bureau will contact the creditor and they have 30 days to respond with proof or it will be removed from your report. Many times it takes the creditors much longer to respond which works in your favor in case it actually is accurate but they do not respond in time then the negative mark gets removed anyway.

Keep in mind that approximately 30% of a credit score is based on credit balances. So, try to keep the existing balances below 45% of the limit that is available on the card. This also means that you should not max out even one card and then pay it with another since all of your cards and balances will be looked at and this is one thing that many lenders are on the lookout for.

Some companies do not report your available high credit and this can be harmful, as the lenders have no way of knowing your credit limit. Ask the company to add it to the report or consider no longer doing business with the company. Since around 35% of the score is your current payment history you need to make sure that no matter what you do be sure to make the payment always within the 30 days because over 30 reflects a delinquent payment.

Approximately 15% of the score is made up of your past credit history; if you have any older accounts that were paid on time, closed or open, do not have them removed from your report. It shows the lenders you are capable of making payments on time. And, longer credit histories also raise your score so that is another good reason to keep them on your report.

Try to maintain a good sound “mix” of credit being reported. For example, perhaps 3 to 5 credit cards, possibly an installment (for a car) and perhaps a mortgage loan rating. It shows the lenders that you are living within your means and do not seem to be over-doing it with credit.

If you are like many people you have dreamed of making online money, starting your own online business that will give you the opportunity to be successful and the opportunity to work from your own home.

But just like all businesses, creating an online business requires you to put in quite a bit of effort and planning. Naturally in order to be successful you need to figure out what you are going to sell, obviously it will be some kind of service or product, but what kind of business model are you going to utilize in order to get customers to purchase what you are selling? To follow are some different online business models that will get you up and making online money in no time.

The first one is one that many online businesses make use of and that is the ecommerce site which is designed to make money by selling different products by use of a catalogue and shopping cart online. You have the option of setting up your own “store” from start to finish or you can use one of those complete stores that are offered as an online business from sites such as osCommerce or eBay’s ProStores.

Another business online money maker is the eBay auction style model which is a little variation of the first example; however, rather than using the ecommerce online business site to make your money you will utilize someone else’s. This means that you sell online by using the auction system at eBay which is very useful for those just starting out with online businesses as it is a way of just testing your product to see what type of demand there is for what you want to sell. If you feel that things are going well you can always move up to creating your own online business.

Utilizing a blog is another way of creating an online business; while many people just use them to write down different thoughts they can be cheaply and easily used to advertise your various businesses. In order to promote your blog you should run advertisements on different blog pages such as Google’s AdSense, AdGenta, Text Link Ads and BlogAds.

Naturally you do not have to have just one business model you can incorporate several models to suit your particular needs. And, you can also choose to have many different online business sites using different models but all selling the same service or product each one sending traffic to the other site.

Sometimes when you have to book travel arrangements for business at the last minute it can be a little expensive; fortunately there are some things that you can do in order to save a little money.

One of the first things that many people do is to check out websites online; you can enter keywords such as travel, budget, business, etc. Many of these sites offer last minute deals on traveling as there are times when people have no option but to cancel their plans on short notice. In order for companies such as hotels and airlines not to lose money they will offer plans at a considerable discount for last minute travelers. Keep in mind that many people are searching for the same things so you may need to act quickly when you see a good deal.

If you have to go on a business trip consider purchasing everything as a “bundle”; in other words look for deals that offer air fare, hotels and possibly rental cars for one low combined price. You can save yourself some time by checking online for travel deals and comparing several offers at one time.

It can also save you some money if you are willing to fly stand by for your next business trip or if you are willing to take a less elaborate or even a budget room at the hotel; they would rather give you a deal than risk losing a booking altogether. If your trip happens to be to a popular location but it is considered off season there you will also very likely be able to save quite a bit so be sure to include “off season” in a keyword search if it is applicable.

However, don’t just check out the bundle travel packages because there may be a hotel in the area that has lost a few bookings and is willing to make a good deal; the same thing holds true for airlines and rental car companies. If the trip is going to include several people you can also save money by everyone staying in the same hotel room or using the same rental car.

So, the next time you have to make plans at the last minute for business, don’t panic, get online and enter a few keywords or head over to some popular travel site and save some money.

While many people prefer to remain in one field or industry in order to build up their expertise or experience there are others in the workforce that actually prefer to move around. This may be done for many reasons, perhaps to gain new experience or even out of necessity; whatever the reason may be the result is that many people are now starting brand new jobs in new industries and as such it is important to understand the “landscape” of the industry.

Basically, you need to understand the trends, regulatory realities, what type of mobility will you have when it comes to moving around and growing within the company and what types of issues does your new company or industry face. Most of these you can find the answers to during your interview process; however, be aware of the fact that many prospective employers may not be entirely forthcoming about any professional downsides or the amount of red tape you may end up having to circumvent.

That being said, you can check out insider blogs on websites and trade publications as additional tools to use in order to find this information. You can also try to locate analyst reports; for instance, if you are going into the automotive industry, reading about the macro trends of the industry will likely give you a good view of the possible challenges you may face.

You also need to know the businesses history, to understand what it has already gone through as it will also give you some idea as to where it is headed. If you start a job at a well known and established company you need to know where it was 50 years ago and what types of turns that it took 5 or 8 years ago as a way of understanding why and where it is going now. On the other hand, if you begin work with a start-up company understanding where they got the original thought it came from will help you to gain more perspective on what kind of market they are trying to fit in or carve out.

One of the first things you should do when starting a new job is to get to know the people that work there; their personal dynamics and egos. Because if you take a company, any company, and switch out the people the entire culture within the company will change, as well as its performance. Understanding the politics within the business is important since people really are inherently selfish and will of course be looking after their own needs first.

The climate and culture of a company makes up its politics and will be the reason that some companies will feel like a better place to work than some others.

Of course things were much cheaper way back when and yes, inflation has a big affect on the value of a dollar and even yes, a dollar used to go a lot further. However, many people fail to understand that the value of that dollar is completely relative to the time in which they live. Of course that dollar bought you a lot more back then, but you also earned much less than you do now. For instance if it cost you a dollar in 1960 it will probably cost you about six dollars today but then again you are earning more than that $125 a week paycheck.

However, there are some basic money saving tips that your ancestors used that helped them save for a comfortable retirement and ensure that their money went a long way.

First you need to do a reality check, before you make any large purchase make sure it is your head and not your emotions that is making the decision. People do tend to make this kind of purchase based on wants instead of basing it on needs, so be sure to analyze your situation before making a large purchase.

Secondly, you always want to shop around and compare before you buy. The Internet has made this process much easier and with only a minimal amount of effort you can compare multiple products or services from different sources which may save you from a costly mistake or even an unwanted nasty surprise.

It is not too late to start saving money and there are some small things that you can do that really will add up. For example, try not to spend the entire paycheck, start by saving just a small amount from each one. Around 15% is recommended but don’t panic if you can not do that every time as the most important aspect is to save something consistently.

Also, reduce those ATM fees, either by estimating what you will need in cash for the week and making one withdrawal rather than several during the week; or often times you can just use your ATM card as a debit card when making a purchase without any fees at all so check with your bank on its policy.

Finally, keep a very close eye on your money; keep track of where you are spending it and how much you are spending. People that keep track of their spending tend to have a better idea of how much has already been spent which helps to keep you from going over budget.

Glen Close’s Fatal Attraction elevator pitch to Michael Douglas was memorable. As those of us who saw that 80′s classic know, it wasn’t exactly perfect in the end.

A perfect elevator pitch is simply being prepared for your “big break.” It should be understood, rehearsed, and ready to fly as soon as some key contact asks you to sell yourself or idea. Whether you are interviewing, searching for investors, or simply answering the question of “what do you do?” it is worth the time and energy to have the concept of your elevator pitch refined.

Answers to these questions should be contained within your pitch:

What do you sell?
Briefly, simply describe what you sell.

To whom?
Briefly describe your market. What industry? How large?

What is your revenue model?
How do you expect to make money?

Who is behind the company?
Tell them a little about you and your team’s and/or your advisory board’s background and accomplishments.

Who is your competition?
Briefly discuss competitors and what they have accomplished. Successful competition is proof your business model and/or concept will work.

What is your unique selling proposition?
Communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition.

Ready? Set. Go:

A “hook”
Open your pitch with an attention-getting “hook.” A statement or question that piques their interest and begs for more.

About 150-225 words
Your pitch should go no longer than 60 seconds.

Passion
Investors and employers expect fire and commitment.

A request
At the end of your pitch, ask for something: Their business card; a referral; or to schedule an interview?

Write your elevator pitch. Then practice saying it to the mirror over and over and over. Make sure it flows well. Video it and play it back. Say it to family and friends. When you are ready for your close-up, you will shine.