Excess inventory can be a serious financial drag for any business. But what to do with excess items – no matter what they are or where they came from – can be a difficult dilemma. Selling what you have through normal channels – special sales, for example, or online — may be out of the question. After all, the reason you have the surplus is because your regular outlets haven’t done the job.

And you probably have little patience for continuing to carry the extra load. But there are several tactics that can either net you a cash return on your items, or a nifty tax write-off. And some of those services are places you can buy as well as sell excess inventory. Your five basic choices are: Read the full entry

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Dear Dan:  The last time I tried to raise prices it was a disaster. Customers revolted. But I’ve cut costs as far as I can, and profits are too thin. How can I raise prices and not lose business? —  Once Burned, Price Shy

Dear Price Shy:  Millions of small business owners across America seem convinced that raising prices in a bad economy is financial suicide. Held hostage by industry pricing and recession fears, many business owners believe that working harder and earning less is the only way to survive.

But that’s wrong, says pricing specialist Dale Furtwengler, a CPA and president of Furtwengler & Associates, a pricing consulting firm. Cutting costs is like dieting. It rarely produces lasting results. Furtwengler contends that the economy isn’t the issue. Rather it’s the inability of most small business owners to understand the value in what they sell, to make changes if necessary and communicate that value to customers. Read the full entry

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With millions of small and medium businesses using QuickBooks to manage their financial affairs, the industry for QuickBooks “add-ons” has blossomed. Add-on programs are essential to many small and mid-sized businesses because they are often the only way to get industry-specific or highly specialized functions. They’re great for adding extra capabilities in key areas such as inventory, time and project tracking, invoicing, e-commerce and others.

Every year, The Sleeter Group – a premier network of small business technology consultants – names a new list of winners in its “Awesome Add-ons for QuickBooks” competition at an annual event that showcases cutting edge businesses management tools and technologies. The Awesome Add-ons award recognizes software programs, web-based applications and services that help enhance QuickBooks by giving users additional tools for managing their businesses.  To qualify, technologies must seamlessly integrate with QuickBooks, and offer superior design, ease-of-use and conformance with appropriate accounting standards.

The 2010 Awesome Add-ons for QuickBooks are: Read the full entry

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Want to really target your advertising in a cutting edge medium that could surpass even the Internet in terms of advertising growth in the next few years? Then take a look at the emerging field of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, also called out-of-home video advertising.

DOOH delivers hyper-local, personalized and engaging messages to highly specialized, captive niche audiences on out-of-home screens (the so-called “4^th screen”) popping up in millions of locations everywhere.

This, say the media pundits, is sure to be the next major growth area in local advertising. It’s laser-targeted stuff. By putting DOOH in your advertising arsenal, you can place video ads and content in front of just the right people, at just the right time in just the right place. Here’s how: Read the full entry

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When our “new” (well, kind of) corporate parent’s PR department called recently wanting to profile me on the company’s internal “Thought Leaders & Trendsetters” web page, I naturally thought it was either a hoax, or just another corporate whim that would quickly fade. But hey, my photo might (and now does) appear right next to the CEO himself, so why not?  And later Tweeting my kids that I’m a trendsetter? Priceless.

Still…I’m skeptical. This “thought leader” thing seems like just another corporate buzz word. Then, bam! An email arrives from a very smart, Chicago-based marketing and PR person named Jean Van Rensselar explaining in abundant detail just how cool and beneficial it really is to be a “thought leader” in business —especially a business-to-business type business.  Buzz word? Banish the thought, says Van Rensselar. Read the full entry

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By Jean Van Rensselar

A thought leader is essentially a trusted resource. And in an information economy, a trusted resource is extremely valuable. A thought leader can be an individual or a company with a thorough mastery of its business, its customers and the dynamics of the broader operating environment.  The bottom line is that a thought leader has an enormous industry edge.  It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – whether yours is a Fortune 1000 company or a bakery in a small town – thought leadership will propel your business in ways that you could never imagine. With the right approach and a small investment, results will materialize quickly.

To be a thought leader – you need to consistently articulate and convey insightful information that listeners and readers value. Truly insightful information is a rare commodity. Here are the benefits; how to become a thought leader; and mistakes to avoid: Read the full entry

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Need a small loan to start or expand a business – a so-called “microloan?” If so, there’s good news. Despite what you might have read lately, microloans of $500 to $50,000 are available through a variety of private sources, government programs and even non-profits. Some of them might even surprise you.

Keep in mind, however, that you’ll need to qualify for the money, submit an application, have a sound business plan or idea, and – gulp – will have to pay back the money. Still, opportunities to secure micro financing for a business startup have broadened.

Here’s where you’ll find the money: Read the full entry

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