Credit Cards Tips for You

All small business owners want to win that big contract that will help thrust sales figures into the stratosphere. Before you land that big contract, or any contract, there will be discussion. And during discussions with your potential client, you must come to agreements on many issues. That is the art of negotiation.

While the price of your services or products may be a priority on the table, you may also discuss timeliness of your services, gross amounts and frequency of your products, quality standards, the method of delivery, etc. Indeed, wise negotiation is a must.

To help you and your small business sales team win at negotiation, we have put together the following 5 winning negotiation tips:

1. Avoid the Label “Adversary”

   First of all, avoid going into a negotiation with any idea of being adversarial with your potential client. Many foolish business owners feel that over-confidence, bravado, and machismo are required to compete and “win” a negotiation. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

   Remember, both you and your potential client are there to benefit. You want to make sales or contract a vendor for your business. The oth

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Staying Alive

The struggles of a business trying to survive.

So things have been going smoothly recently. Sales have been good, production has been keeping pace, errors have almost disappeared, my new hires are working out. And then I find this e-mail in my in-box:

i seen a [let's call it Company C] truck in a porn shop parking lot near rte 173 and rte 41 in wadsworth il. i went to there website and they mention that they deliver for your company. i just thought i would warn you about the people that may be representing you in the field and you are welcoming into your place. this porn shop is known for men meeting strange men and men dressed as women among other things. also the parking area is unsafe for the equipment and load so if your furniture was on that truck i hope it made it to its destination with no problems.

Gee, thanks, stranger. (Sigh.) What am I supposed to do with this?

This certainly is not an e-mail I would have written, but on the other hand I don’t live across the street from a porn shop. I

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Transaction

Putting a price on business.

BizBuySell.com recently released its latest Insight Report on trends in the business-for-sale marketplace, showing an increase in closed transactions for the second quarter of 2011. While access to credit remains tight, the number of  deals completed was up 8 percent over the same period last year.

“We’ve been anticipating an upward trend in the business-for-sale market as more profitable businesses start to become available for sale,” said Mike Handelsman, group general manager, in a press release. Mr. Handelsman also attributed the uptick to business owners who were finally emerging from survival mode and returning to profitability. An industry breakdown of the 1,198 small businesses sold during the second quarter showed that almost half were in the service sector, while 26 percent were in retail, 18 percent were restaurants and 5 percent were in manufacturing.

The small-business economy continues to send mixed signals, with some saying that the recession has not ended on Main Street and with others reporting a surge of confidence among owners of privately held companies. Person

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In the 21st century digital age, it is no wonder that multimedia like photos and videos, which were once a bane to slow dial-up internet connections just a short decade ago, are a few of the biggest players in the SEO market. While keyword optimization and smooth website navigation are important to the growth of an online business, videos have the potential for making a viewer base grow exponentially.

Of course, one of the reasons high bandwidth content like video are successful is the increase in speeds of internet connection, both at home and on the go with mobile smartphone technology. But the other reason is social media. People love to view interesting, curious, and otherwise “cool” photos and videos and share them with their friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites.

Take a look at media websites such as Fail.com, IcanHasCheezburger.com, and of course, YouTube.com. These sites have millions of visitors each day viewing files that make them smile, gasp, and even LOL. And when a video elicits an emotional response, people feel the need to share that with others.

This is one of the biggest reasons you should include video on your website. Not

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The Agenda

How small-business issues are shaping politics and policy.

Are national corporations using state laws to shave millions of dollars off their tax bills — and gain an advantage over smaller rivals? That’s the claim some lawmakers and activists are making in statehouses around the country, and as states grapple with deep cuts in spending and seek new sources of revenue, it is putting big business on the defensive. This year, the fight moved to Rhode Island.

At issue was a measure proposed by Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee, an Independent, that would make it much harder for companies to move profits earned in Rhode Island to states with lower tax rates. Known as combined reporting, it requires companies to file state income taxes in the same manner they file federal taxes, accounting for profits and losses of affiliated companies, even those that may have no connection to Rhode Island, and increasing, proponents say, the amount of income subject to state taxes.

Since the 1990s, leading corporations have redoubled efforts to cut their state tax obligations, and total corporate tax revenue to the states has fallen both as a share of state revenue and of corporate profits. In

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