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«)€)0« http://www,thecharlottepost.com 6C Cliarlotte THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2006 BUSINESS Marketing and more marketing r Sherese Duncan Marketing, marketing, marketing. It’s like a never ending cycle and it must end! Even though I do talks and give tons of information on infrastructure, systems, processes, tar get market, and all those other things that are critical in business - it always ends at “well...can you help me with marketing?” I know I know, it’s the mar keting that drives the rev enue in your business but it can also be the camd that breaks your business’s back. In order to have successful marketing you must have the infrastructure in place to sup port your marketing activi ties. For example: Let’s say you implement a wonderful cam paign to sell a particular ser vice or product and it’s based on people purchasing online and in turn you have to ship them their purchase or pro vide a place for them to down load the purchase if it’s an digital product. What things do you think you must have in place to make this campaign a suc cess? Just to name a few: •Tkrget Market Defined ♦The Solution must fit the need of the ThTget Market •Key Messaging and Consistent Brand •Good Quahty Web site with functionality •The Ri^t Pricing struc ture •TVansaction processing and managing •Customer Service require ments •Follow up procedures and schedule ...this is just the beginning. Yes, I know there are many tools and resources out there to hdp you automate and manage this whole cam paign. Main Thkeaway: Just because you have the right tools doesn’t mean that you have the right target market or have the right solution. There are many reasons why your marketing isn’t as stellar as you would like it to be. You need work on a process that allows you to implement a basic marketing program that will be' the standard for the life of your business. This is the first step - get a basic program in place and stick to it for at least six months. Next, as you gain momentum, update and get feedback you can adjust and add other activities. Your next step Thke the information fixim this article and conduct your own research about a Foundational Marketing Program for your business. If you’re unsure of where to begin, start with getting edu cated on marketing strategy through your local resources. Once you’ve grasped the con cept of what you think you want to do, define how this foundational progi’am will fit into your overall business and figure out how you can integrate it into each aspect of your business. Then write it down. In the end, with your foundational marketing pro gram in hand, you wiU be able to move forward confi dently and be ready for any thing. SHHRESt: DUNCAN is President and CEO ofEfficio. Ine. a small business education and consullinfi firm. For more infor mation. go to w\\'w.efficioJ)iz ore- mail asksherese®efficioJyiz. Time for 4th quarter planning For small companies, final four months of the year often separates profit from loss By Joyce M. Rosenberg THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - The fourth quarter is arguably the most important time of the year for a small bxisi- ness owners - it’s when they should be doing year- end tax planning and looking ahead 'to 2007. Capital spending, hiring plans and employee com pensation should all be items on the agenda. Fourth-quarter planning, whether you do it your self or with the help of a certified public accountant or tax professional, isn’t something to put off or ignore. There can be a heavy price, and not just in taxes, to be paid early in the new year, if you haven’t looked at your books and thoix^t about how your company is fikely to fare for the rest of 2006 and into early next year. “As a CPA, I can do a lot to help you before the year ends. After Dec. 31, there’s not a lot I can do,” said Bob Doyle, president of Doyle Wealth Management Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla. Moreover, by looking at your business over a longer period of time _ accountants suggest six months - you can make better decisions not just about money, but about running your business, Doyle said an accountant in particular will want to see a company’s balance sheet as well as its income statement _ not just for this year, but past years as well. Balance sheets are key because they reveal a company’s cash flow, and income state ments will help an owner determine whethm* the business is fikely to turn a profit. Doyle noted that it’s critical to look at the infor mation on these documents fium a historical per spective. For example, a company mi^t have a big profit by year’s end, but if the first quarto* has his torically been a slow period _ as cash flow will reveal - an owner shouldn’t be gleefully spending. He or she should be putting money aside for those lean da}^. Now is the time to be thinking about capital spending. Many owners are anxious to take advan tage of what’s known as the Section 179 deduction, which allows a small business to deduct up front’ rather than depreciate over time the cost of certain kinds of equipment bought and put into service during the tax year. For 2006, the deduction, named for a section of the Internal Revenue Code, is a maximum of $108,000. Again, how much you spend wfll depend on your cash flow into early next year. If you have a lot of cash on hand now and will be flush in the first quarter of 2007, you might want to accelerate that computer or vehicle purchase into 2006, take the Section 179 deduction and save on this year’s taxes. But if early 2007 looks to be cash-poor, you mi^t be better off waiting. This is also the time to be thinking about your retirement plan _ Doyle said a realistic look at your financial statements will help you determine how much you can contribute for 2006. But you might also want to be thinking about changes in your plan; if you want to switch to a different kind of plan, you still have time to do so and get the bene fits for 2006. A caveat: If the plan you’re interested in is a SIMPLE, or Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees, you have only until Oct. 1 to create one. If you need more information about retirement plans, look at IRS Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business. Your accoimtant can help you get started, but you might also need the help of a human resources or benefits consultant to determine what kind of plan is best for your busi ness. Manufacturers’ fourth-quarto planning should include taking stock of their inventory If they have too much on hand, Doyle suggested, it might be time to sell it off, even at a discormt. Doyle noted that many small business owners who have had a good year decide in the fourth quarto to give employees bonuses. PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON Former Carolina Panthers running back Tshimanga Biakabutuka owns Beya Jewelry In Charlotte. The stores, located in Ballantyne and Birkdale, sell high-end and “fashion-forward Christian’’ jewelry. A sparkling reputation Former Panther leads thriving jewelry franchise By Erica Singleton FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST Many former athletes try to stay in the limelight or near their sport once their time on the field has past. Former Carolina Panther Thhimanga Biakabutuka went a dif ferent way “I’ve always been interested in lux ury goods,” said Biakabutuka, “ but it was by accident that I was intro duced to jewelry” The former running back worked in real estate, but thought retail jew elry could create more cash flow. He started Beya Jewelry three years ago, but worked in the background. “I’ve never been big on attention. even during my football years,” Biakabutuka said. “For the first two years, I didn’t let anyone know I owned the business. I wanted to prove the business was good.” WTth two Charlotte locations - Ballantyne and Birkdale - and an exclusive fine of Christian jewelry Biakabutuka has proven that busi ness is better than good. Beya carries hig^-end jewelry and unique stjies, including Chopard, Ritani, Gucci, and H. Stem. Beya, named for his grandfather and brother, is the only H. Stem‘retailer in the Carolinas; the next closest retailer is friAtlanta. Beya is making a name with what Biakabutuka calls “fashion-forward Christian pieces.” ' “I started creating pieces to express my faith,” said Biakabutuka. ‘T would be watching TY and see lots of people wearing crosses., .like people forgot the mean ing. It’s "the shedding of the blood on the cross that is important, not the cross. I wanted to create something to remind people of the blood shed on the cross.” What was created is the Blood Drop collection, jewelry that features a “drop” of blood with a cross inside. “People thought I was crazy” he said. “But we have the rights; it’s exclusive to our store. It’s oim Included in the Christian jewelry fine are the 1st Corinthians ring for single women, and the Proverbs 31 ring for married women. There is even a special Blood Drop piece cre ated for a Jewish customer who is Christian, but whose spouse would have a problem with them wearing a cross, so it’s hidden. Christian jewelry makes up the bulk of Beya’s sales and Christian bookstores are fining up to sell his jewelry as well, Biakabutuka said. College buys old hospital to grow Miles College looks to expand Ala. campus THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Miles College has purchased the old Lloyd Nolan Hospital property in Fairfield from HealthSouth Corp., more than doubling the size of the historically black college’s 35-acre campus. School President George French announced the acquisition at Ttiesdays Birmingham City Council meeting. “We’re excited,” he said. ‘We’ve been landlocked for the last 100 years.” The 41-acre site wfll be used for four new buildings, including a student fife cen ter and a new administra tion building. FVench would not disclose how much Miles paid for the land or how it was financed, but he said the college did well in the deal, which was , completed Monday. HealthSouth also did not reveal a sales price because the value of the transaction was not large enough to war rant public disclosure. French said Miles has been negotiating with HealthSouth since April to buy the land. He said Miles is now undergoing a feasibility study which should be com pleted in March, to deter mine whether the college should tear down the hospi tal and build aU new facili ties or try to renovate the existing structure. Spotlight shines on lack of diversity in top ad agencies By Erin Texeira THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - Why, city officials demanded, were there virtually no black staffers at New York’s elite advertising agencies? The year was 1968. Agencies’ executives vowed to fix the problem. They didn’t. Now, under steady pressure fixim advocates and the threat of public embarrassment by city officials, they’ve renewed those promises. Sixteen of the city’s top ad agencies have agreed to recruit more minori ties, especially blacks. They’ll also diversify senior management and let city officials monitor them for three years. As Advertising Week 2006 festivities began Monday, the agreements signed with the citys Human Rights Commission offer a rare gfimpse inside one of New York’s core indus tries - and reveal that its work force doesn’t look much like the nation “This is a big deal - that advertising agencies actually signed written agreements to make these changes,” said Burtch Drake, president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. ‘Will you see an ovemi^t sea change? No. But over time you’ll see other cultures integrated into advertising.” About 3 percent of advertising staffers nationally were black in 2005, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor data, with 1.6 percent Asian and 7.5 percent Latino. In upper manage- m^t, diversity is virtually nonexis tent. Under the agreements, big agencies including WPP Group PLC’s Ogflvy & Mather, Publids Groupe SA's Saatchi & Saatchi and Draft New York, part of Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc., wfll devote staffing and resources to find ing and keeping more minority staff members. They will set up in-house diversity councils, and executives who meet the new goals wfll be rewarded accordingly “This strategy is deliberate, - we really wanted to change things across the board,” said Patricia L. Gatling, head of the hiiman rights commission. Spokesmen for advertising agencies have mostly declined to comment on the issue. Young & Rubicam, a unit of WPP, issued a statement saying the agency ‘believes that diversity is a business imperative and we are pleased to have come to an agreement with the Human Rights Commission that reinforces our diversity initia tives.”
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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