Sales & promotion

Beat out your competition with a persuasive sales pitch

Beat out your competition with a persuasive sales pitch

By Robert Warren

Businesspeople sell. At every stage of your marketing, from your print advertising to website copy to boardroom meetings and networking events, the responsibility falls on you to communicate the value of your services, to justify their costs, and to promote your own credibility. Sales requires skill, insight and business sense: if you can’t sell, you won’t survive.

Persuasive selling doesn’t require black magic, outrageous promises or cheap manipulation; it only requires that you understand what your prospect truly wants to know – and how to deliver that information quickly and effectively. Sales is simply communication, refined and focused.

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October 20, 2013
Business financing

Going Public – IPO (Initial Public Offering)

Going Public – IPO (Initial Public Offering)

by PlanMagic Corporation

Public markets used to be available only to larger companies with a long history of profitability. Nowadays a variety of companies with varying degrees of profitability and revenue growth may be candidates for public financing depending mainly on future prospects. Access to capital growth through public markets offers greater access to capital, but many promising small companies cannot obtain funding because they are private. Without funding though, they can’t hope to grow to the size and scale that would allow them to go public. Because of this hopeless cycle, many will turn to venture capitalists, angel investors, bank loans or SBA secured loans for that initial cash injection. And then the road to going public may be opened.

If the company has never sold stock before it is known as an Initial Public Offering (IPO). A company can only have one Initial Public Offering (IPO). If the corporation has sold stock before, it is known as a Primary Offering. A company can have many Primary Offerings. When a company needs to raise capital, they issue debt securities (bonds) or by selling stock (equity).

There are in general three ways to go public:

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October 20, 2013
Business economy / Business financing

Market Indicators (indices)

Market indicators (indices)

The averages that are available as indicators or indices indicate the general health of stock prices. If the economy is doing well then prices of stocks as a group tend to rise. If it is not doing so well prices as a group tend to fall. The averages are there to show you these tendencies. If a specific stock is going down while the market as a whole is going up, or if a stock is going up, but is rising faster than the market as a whole, that tells you something about the stock involved.

Market indexes are therefore useful for gauging the performance of an investment portfolio over time. Select the most appropriate index to serve as your benchmark.

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October 19, 2013
Marketing & PR

Public Relations Tips for Small Businesses

Corbett Associates, Inc., a Long Island-based public relations firm, offers these updated tips to businesses that need to promote their product or services. Members of our firm have more than 30 years experience in PR and these are some of the recommendations that we give to our clients and techniques we practice ourselves.

Let your community know who you are and what you do

Many people walk past stores and offices and never think about going in or why they should. Send out a periodic press release about your firm, new employees, new clients or products. These release can be sent to Daily and Weekly Newspapers and business periodicals and newsletters.

Participate in your community

Join a local club or service organization. This will give you an opportunity to network and join in on community service projects. This can help to help get both your name and your businesses name in the local papers.

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October 19, 2013
Business financing

Sources of Equity Financing

Big advantage of equity financing is that it doesn’t have to be paid back. It is an investment, and the investors get a piece of your company and expect their payback to come when the company is sold or goes public.

How can owners of smaller companies obtain equity financing? First and foremost, they need to be able to make a convincing case (preferably via a business plan) that the company will grow significantly over the coming few years.

Three important sources of equity financing:

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October 19, 2013