The LuxMob Info Tags

You’ve seen the commercials and web sites about starting medical billing businesses in your home. You can’t just start calling doctors and telling them you will take care of the billing for them. It is their income and they want to know you are a true business and that you have experience. So, before any thing else, look into classes to help you get those medical billing jobs.

There are several ways to be certified. One is to go to your local community college and see if they offer a medical billing business opportunity course. Many of them do or they can tell you whom to contact. The other option is to check into some courses to study medical billing at home. These are usually less expensive and you can take the time to go over areas as often as you like. Either way take the classes and get certified.

While taking the classes, begin creating a medical billing business plan. This is an essential document. It will help you get all the information and start up costs you will need to know, before opening your business. Most medical billing businesses start up costs average between $2000 and $5000. The medical billing business plan will help you budget all the necessary things so you will know how much you need before you get started.

You can go to your local Small Business Administration office or visit them on the internet. You can get sample business plans and forms that can help you create your medical billing business plan. They will also be able to tell you whom to contact in local and state governments regarding regulations and requirements in your area. If you know the requirements, you will be better off and your business is more likely to succeed.

You may want to start out you medical billing business from home as a sole proprietor, but check into all the types of business entities before choosing one. They each have advantages and disadvantages, so it is best to see which one fits you best. You should also decide on a name for your business and register that name with the appropriate agencies.

Deciding on your medical billing businesses office location and equipment needs is your next step. You can either purchase or lease all new equipment or use the stuff you already have in your home. It is best to choose a room that is going to be your office and put all your equipment and file cabinets in the room, to ensure you keep your records together.

You have probably already told your family that you will be starting a business of medical billing from home. Now, as you finish your classes, and get your office together, you will need to remind them that when you are in your office you are working. If you have younger children, make sure you have someone who can keep an eye on them during your business hours. Being available to your clients is essential to build your client base and credibility.

You may be told about medical billing businesses software in your classes. Don’t take their word for it, check several out. Ask for a demo of the software. Find one that you are comfortable using and purchase it. However, watch out for companies that promise you clients or say they will find clients for you. This is usually a ploy and never truly works out. You can probably find the clients you will need on your own.

Now that your classes are done, and your office is ready, it is time to start advertising. Talk to your family doctor and let him know about your medical billing jobs. Tell him you are certified and are accepting new clients. Even if your doctor is not interested, he may have a referral or two for you.

You will also want to create a sales letter and brochure announcing the opening of your medical billing businesses. If you don’t feel you can write one on your own, hire someone to write it for you. Check with the local college and see if a business or marketing students would be interested. This helps them and you at the same time for a minimal of the cost of hiring a professional marketing consultant.

Send these medical billing businesses letter to all the doctors in your area, state, country. Medical billing from home can be done anywhere. You are not restricted to one area, but it is best to start in areas close to your home.

This is not a get rich quick career. It takes time to build your medical billing at home client base. But with time and hard work, your medical billing business opportunity will give you the income you deserve.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Former employees and business associates become competitors every day.

When hiring others to work on your team, be mindful that employees and contractors might:

- Leave and start a competing practice;

- Go to work for a competitor;

- Solicit your clients; or

- Use and/or disclose company confidential information.

So, how do you reduce the risk of training your future competitors?

The best business relationships are grounded in trust and mutual benefit. Many people work on a handshake understanding, which is fine until something goes wrong. A little paperwork on the front end can prevent problems down the road. But, all the paperwork in the world won’t prevent someone from leaving. So, to retain key people, they need to feel that this situation is a “good fit” for them.

Tip: Be fair and reasonable about your terms and compensation. Recognize and reward the contributions of high-performing employees and contractors.

The following documents can be used to protect your interests. Your agreements should be reasonable and use plain English (avoid legalistic boilerplate!). Being heavy handed in your agreements may actually be counterproductive.

(1) Non-Compete Agreements

Requiring employees and contractors to sign ‘non-compete’ agreements is a common practice. Unfortunately, the enforceability of non-compete agreements is often unclear.

The basic rule is that non-compete agreements will be enforced if they are:

- Fair and reasonable (in scope, duration & geography);

- Protect legitimate business interests; and

- Do not impose substantial hardship (preclude a person from earning a living).

What is fair and reasonable?
It’s a legal concept that gets interpreted differently in different industries and locations. For example, a reasonable term for a non-compete in a traditional company may be one year. For Internet companies, the reasonable term may be 6 months or less because the technologies and markets are changing so quickly.

Tip: Non-Compete Agreements — Less restrictive is more effective.

Using a boilerplate agreement, “one size fits all situations” is not a good approach. You are usually better served by tailoring an agreement to the specific employee/contractor and identifying the specific business interests that you are protecting (e.g., customer confidential information). The courts are showing a trend of enforcing less restrictive non-competes and not enforcing broad, boilerplate agreements.

(2) Non-Solicitation Agreements

With a non-solicitation agreement, you can protect your legitimate business interests without unduly restricting an employee or contractor’s ability to earn a living. Non-solicitation agreements are more easily enforced than broad-based non-compete agreements.

Tip: Add non-solicitation provisions to your agreements, such as:

“You agree not to divert any business opportunities from the Company to yourself or to any other person or business entity.”

“You also agree that for a period of one year following termination of this agreement, that all clients to which you were introduced by Company shall be considered Company clients and that you will not pursue or accept any additional work with those clients without written permission from Company. In the event that you violate this provision, you agree to pay Company 20% of your first year billings to Company’s clients.”

(3) “Assignment of Rights” for employees

Usually, employment terms provide that an employer owns the rights to works produced by an employee. The employee is the inventor (patent) or creator (copyright) and it is important to have a clear assignment of the employee’s rights to the employer. Without such assignment, inventions of the employee belong to the employee, even though the employee developed the invention during work hours and using the employer’s materials and equipment. The employer retains “shop rights” in the invention. This means that the employer can use the invention without cost in its operations.

Tip: Require employees to sign an invention disclosure and rights assignment form.

(4) “Work for Hire” for contractors

An independent contractor retains rights in works that s/he creates unless there is an explicit statement that it is a “work made for hire.” Contractor agreements need to clearly identify that the Company owns the rights to works created and whether any intellectual property rights are retained by the Contractor.

Tip: Include in the independent contractor agreement a provision that says contractor is performing a “work for hire” and contractor assigns all rights.

In conclusion, it is a good business practice to protect the company’s rights by requiring that employees and contractors sign an agreement that includes confidentiality, non-competition, non-solicitation, and assignment of rights provisions as well as specifies the scope of work and compensation. If you use a standard agreement, it should be reviewed periodically by a knowledgeable business attorney, to ensure that it covers the legal bases in light of recent court decisions.

Doing the paperwork up front reduces the risk that you are training your future competition.

Jean D. Sifleet, Esq, CPA is a practical and experienced business attorney. Jean has extensive experience in dealing with intellectual property matters in the large and small companies and as a small business owner. She has authored numerous books and publications on avoiding legal pitfalls in doing business. This article is excerpted from her new book, A”dvantage IP - Profit from Your Great Ideas” (Infinity 2005). For more information, Jean’s website is http://www.smartfast.com.

Everyone is looking for information! Information is the number one product to sell on the net…

How many times have you heard this?

Merely writing a book or gathering together a number of affiliate products to sell from your site then declaring you are in business does not always equate to “following the yellow brick road” to fame and fortune as many would have you believe.

The internet is for the true entreprenuers and not for people wishing to make money fast (although this can happen), but for the majority, it is for people who are willing to keep trying until they make it work for them.

The people who dream and wish for “easy street” on the net are the ones falling by the wayside declaring the internet does not work,along with those who have invested everything into earning a living from the net with disregarded for how long it may actually take to get established especially if they started in business with very little capital.

Developing and running a web based business requires dedication, determination and a commitment to making it work. Like any offline business there is no easy road and your business will only be as good as the time and effort you put into it for achieving the same outstanding success that others have already achieved.

It is a well known that in offline business many new startup ventures fail withing the first two to five years, on the net if you try “putting all your eggs in the internet basket” without thought or planning you may fail to achieve your goals.

To be a success you need to plan for success. Business planning takes on a new dimension with the international scope that the average home business can now achieve. There are many people offering solutions to solve problems as to why your business may be failing to live up to your expectations.

Unfortunately, there are no magic formulas for instant success no matter how much people may try to convince you otherwise.

While it is a good idea to learn from others who have gone before you to avoid the pitfalls they have encountered it is wise to use good judgement about any information that may influence you or your decisions. I apply the following formula to everything I read asking myself the following questions:

1. Is the writer a recognized authority on the subject covered?

2. Did the writer have a motive in writing the book other than imparting accurate information? what is the motive?

3. Does the writer have a profit interest in the subject covered?

4. Are there easily accesible sources to check and verify the writers statements?

5. Do the writers statements harmonise with my own common sense and experience?

The habit of believing something on the basis of little or no evidence is a major human fault to be avoided especially with the over abundance of information that is so readily available.

Success is always an internal thing and external trappings are symbols of what has first taken place at an internal level. If you really want your business, either offline or online, to be a success you will always find a way to make it work. With motivation and a big enough reason you become unstoppable.

Goals are what you want, outcomes are what you create. Setting outcomes is the key to taking your insights and resources, forming a plan of action and setting out to achieve what you truly want.

Some common areas that prevent people from succeeding are:

1. Inability to manage their finances well.

2. Making bad choices for themselves.

3. Being incapable of taking personal responsibility for their life or their actions (or inactions).

4. They do not know how to set outcomes for creating what they want.

5. They are lazy and would rather procrasinate than take the necessary action to ensure success.

Unless you act, outcomes remain nothing more than dreams. It is like the person who say’s “I am a writer” but never actually writes or completes any writing projects they have undertaken. There are also people you simply love the idea of an interenet business but are not prepared to follow through with all that will be required for them to turn ideas into financial profits.

There is a saying “the past does not equal the future” Determine what it is you truly want and where you are going then you will be truly unstoppable with the biggest success stories yet to happen in such young internet business environment.

Do you know that if you are mid 30 by now, you ONLY have 1,870 weeks left to enjoy?

Maybe it’s just now that you’ve realized there are only few weeks left.

This is the fact…an average person lives for about 75 years…

…which means we only have 3,900 weeks in our entire lifetime. What will you do to enjoy the last 1,850 weeks?

Maybe until now you are you still struggling with that boring and tiring routine everyday? Going to office, meet that boss, go home, and the next morning…you will do THE SAME THING AGAIN!

If you do, now is the time to make that change in your life.

I know that you are also dreaming and “wishing” so to speak that one day you’ll finally achieve the financial freedom that you’ve always wanted. You do not need to wait until you reach the age of 60 to retire and enjoy your life. Let me tell you once and for all, you will NEVER enjoy your life at the age of 60!

Out of 3,900 weeks in our entire life, 2,840 weeks are spent in our work?

And the truth is…you work, share your talents, abilities and experiences for the company so that the company gains money, gets profits. Who becomes rich anyway? 101% Not you…it’s the company.

Now if you will not make some changes in your life, tomorrow will still be one of the boring days…and unfortunately you will wait until you reach the age of 60 to become free!

This isn’t what you deserve! You…like me…like everyone else deserves to enjoy life.

Stop working hard for someone else to become rich, maybe it’s time you work hard so that YOU become rich.

I’ll take you by the hand and show step by step the strategies I personally use to make money online and enjoy the freedom that you’ve always dreamed of.

You will learn all the secrets of making hundreds and even thousands of dollars without ever leaving your home and while you are drinking coffee.

I will personally guarantee you this. You will be surprised it is so easy.

Start making that change in your life NOW and save the 1,870 weeks left.

She Dumilon is the Marketing President and CEO of DreamNoMore.com.
Her FREE Newsletter gives you informative tips and secrets on how you can Earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars without leaving your home.
Subscribe today absolutely FREE! http://www.dreamnomore.com

Here’s a legitimate looking advertisement found in the classified section of a local newspaper.

“Our Company will pay you up to $5 per envelope stuffed! Hurry this opportunity will not last long!”

Most work at home envelope stuffing scams look legitimate. A perfect way to make fast cash!

Now the hard cold facts: It’s practically impossible to make several hundred a week stuffing envelopes a few hours a day. This is what the promoters of these misleading ads want you; the unwary victim to believe.

Here’s how the scam works: The promoters of the envelope stuffing scam run an ad in a local paper offering great opportunities with their company stuffing envelopes. To get further details about this opportunity they request respondents send in a fee.

They further state the small fee is to separate the serious applicants from the non-serious factor. And they also assure you that you will quickly earn back the money.

Once they mail you the information you realize they were not offering a legitimate work at home job. And you will have to find your own customers/victims!

The fog clears, you realize you’ve been scammed!

You realize for your “fee” you’ve received a flimsy brochure and a letter instructing you how to place your own ad in local newspaper describing this great envelope stuffing job. You realize the only way you will recoup your fee or make any money is to recruit more victims for the company!

Avoid Scams-Use Your “Noggin”

Use your head. What company would pay an individual $1 or more per envelope stuffed?

Business owners would much rather purchase a letter folding and envelope sealing machine for a few hundred dollars than to pay you thousands per month for the same task!

Beware of these ads promising unrealistic salaries, amazing profits, without disclosing background information. Like how you will actually be paid. Weekly, monthly, quarterly. Are you considered an Independent Contractor or Company Employee. All very important things to consider.

Be wary of companies that request a fee up front before they will send you information on the opportunity. Most legitimate companies will not request a fee up front.

The Real Deal. The only true way to make money stuffing envelopes is to start your own Direct Mailing Service. Where you are the BOSS and are operating a legitimate business serving other small/home business owners. More on that in a future article.

If you’ve been scammed contact the following places.

The Federal Trade Commission. www.ftc.gov

Your local Consumer Protection Agency.

Your local Better Business Bureau.

BB Lee (C)2004

About The Author

BB Lee is editor/publisher of SmallBizBits News. A Home Based

Business Newsletter packed with info on starting a home biz.

Subscribe Now And Receive Several Free Ebooks!

mailto:Smallbiz-subscribe@topica.com

http://www.smallbizbitsnews.com

smallbizbits@yahoo.com

HOW IMPORTANT IS AN INTERNET WEBSITE TO YOU?

If you have not followed the Internet news recently, there are lots of important
issues and changes happening. Here why it is important for you to have your
products and business listed on the worldwide communications network commonly
called the: Internet.

Of the 328 million people in North America, 68% (223 million) of them are using the
Internet. This figure has doubled over the last five years.

More people are going online for information than ever before. If you are like me
and you have a question about a product or service, where do you go to check?
Answer: the Internet.

The Internet is rapidly becoming the most important place for consumers and
businesses to get information about purchasing anything. In the future, if you have
a business without a website, you will soon be left behind.

Some recent government information:

1. US Department of Commerce reported e-commerce retail sales (sales made over
the Internet) for the 2nd quarter of 2005 at $21.1 billion. That is a 7.2% increase
over the previous quarter.

2. The Internet Retailer reported: the total volume of online searches conducted in
the US in 2005 reached more than 4.8 billion, (up 22% from July 2004).

3. The people and businesses of our nation are becoming more and more
dependent on Internet/online resources. It will not be long until just about anything
you want to buy, or need more information about will be available to you online via
the Internet.

In short, don’t let this tidal wave of opportunity pass you by. A website on the
worldwide communications called the Internet can let people everywhere know who
you are, what you have to meet their needs as well as how they can contact you for
immediate answers to their questions.

Terry L. Weber

http://craftyones.net/originalsbyweber

Terry Weber is a retired advertising copywriter and intentor. During the past 8 years
Terry and his wife Doris have worked as house building volunteers with the RV
Care-A-Vanners division of Habitat for Humanity. They have either led or been part
of 38 two week builds all over the USA. Terry sells his original products as:
Originals by Weber on Crafty-Ones.com as a way to earn money to pay for travel
expenses to and from the Habitat builds. They live in their RV while on Habitat
builds. Home port is Toms River, NJ.

Mystery shopping is a long time and very easy to understand concept. In this very competitive age customer service is paramount to retailers. These retailers hire mystery shoppers, also known as secret shoppers to evaluate staff performance, check on customer service and evaluate front line cashier staff. Retail managers use mystery shopping for efficient evaluation of their business practices, their goods delivery and their employees’ company and product knowledge as well as customer service practices and skills.

Those hired for mystery shopping visit retailers in the pose of a customer and then write up the details of their experience shopping there. Typically they are responded to a questionnaire. Retailers are not the only ones using mystery shoppers, however. Banks and other financial institutions hired mystery shoppers, as well as convenience stores, restaurants, manufacturers, entertainment firms and even service firms.

While in theory anyone can mystery shop, you do need to be professional and responsible, with a good level of observation and memory skills, and the ability to succinctly and clearly put into written words the details about your experience.

You should never have to pay upfront for the opportunity to do mystery shopping. If a mystery-shopping firm is asking you to do so they are not making you a legitimate job offer. This is a scam. They may call it a registration fee or say that you are purchasing a list of firms that offer mystery shopping. But, whatever they call it you shouldn’t pay the fee.

Legitimate mystery shopping companies will train you, give you tips for improving your mystery shopping skills and sometimes let you keep what you shop - for free. There are several ways of reimbursing you for your services. You will either get a fee for each shopping experience that is agreed upon before you shop, or you’ll be reimbursed for your purchase, or you may get both. The worse that will happen is that you get to dine for free, buy clothes and other goods that you choose, at no charge, or avail yourself of services that you don’t have to pay for.

Most mystery shopping companies have a very short online registration to apply for the mystery shopper position. They’ll ask for your e-mail address and phone number. You have to show a lot of flexibility, though - at least at first. Many assignments could be last minute, and this is no nine to five job. You may need a digital camera for some shopping evaluations, and you should have Internet access, email and fax availability.

Mystery shopping is not a regular job. You could wait months for your first work, with no set schedule guarantee. You might get an assignment that requires an hour or two of work, or one that sends you off on a two week cruise. You just never know. You should plan on registering with several mystery-shopping firms. You might do well to look at online message boards and forums for mystery shopping to find firms that are looking for new mystery shoppers.

Companies that offer legitimate mystery shopping work include Mystery Diners Inc., which specializes in sending mystery shoppers to evaluate employees and services of the restaurant and bar industries; Bare associates, a global firm that offers online mystery shopping training; Certified Reports Inc. that specializes in the entertainment industry such as theatres; and a Closer Look that provides mystery shopping evaluations for the hospitality (hotel and restaurant) industry.

Another mystery shopping firm is Intelli Shop which not only offers on-site mystery shopping evaluations but call centers that can evaluate your telephone sales and customer service team and online evaluations of your site’s services. The mystery shopping company Employee Evaluator specializes in evaluation of real estate agencies and services, but can also offer mystery-shopping evaluations of just about any type of firm; and Amusement Advantage. This firm specializes in the amusement industry, offering mystery shopping evaluations of arcades, amusement parks, theatres, golf courses, aquariums, zoos and even convention and visitors bureaus and tourist information centers.

(c) 2005, Free Paid Surveys Online Directory. Reprint rights granted so long as article and by-line are printed intact and all links made live.

Alex Ruban is the owner of Paid Surveys since March, 2003. His site provides information about hundreds of free legitimate paid online surveys, polls, and focus group providers along with detailed reviews, descriptions of each program, paid survey guidelines and useful tips.

I remember it like it was yesterday… selling my black 1997 (tricked out) Honda Civic, borrowing $7,500 from my parents, and basically selling everything I could get my hands on. It was the hot Summer of 2004 and my first business was in development.I was like a little baby with candy, so happy! I had around $12,000 to spend, money that I was fortunate enough to acquire from good ol’ mom and pops and my one and only car I sold for $5,000 (damn, that car was hard to give up).

I was passionate…. I was hungry…. I was determined… and I was STUPID! You see, at the time I didn’t really know much about getting a website going in terms of developement, marketing, etc… I was just a kid with an idea and $12,000 in my Commerce Banking account. So what did I do, I basically went with any old development team from India and got ripped off big time. Looking back, I was overcharged, lied to about who was working on the site, and I kept being asked to pay extra money every month for jobs that were mysteriously “extended.” The end result: I ended up paying these guys in India around $6,000 for an uncomplete-buggy-too-many-features site that did about 1,000 things but never worked properly.

So what did I do… I being my determined self, I unloaded another $6,000 to another off-shore development firm to fix the site and get it up and running(never go offshore!). Now, these guys were a bit better (they never really lied to me). They actually convinced me to drop around 90% of my features and focus on one main feature of the site (which never made sense to me until years later). Finally, the site launched in Feb. 2005 and lasted ’til that summer 2005.

Net Result: -$12,000 down the drain.

Wow, it’s crazy even thinking about it again, but it really made me become a smarter person from losing all of that cash. Looking back, most of it was my fault. I was a over-zealous 20 year-old who wanted a site built with 0 experience on how sites were built, 0 experience on the exact niche I was going to attack, and 0 experience on how to really get a website off it’s feet. All I had, at the end of the day, was my idea(which isn’t enough).

Now, my idea was strong, no doubt, but the problem was that it was a great site but with 0 following and no focus… and just when it started to get following, I took it down to build something better that actually never got off the ground (that’s a whole different story).

The moral of the story: Know your business inside and out before you try build it, especially if you’re going to invest your own cash into it. Start small… you don’t have to create a service with 1000 features… offering a small service on the internet to a small group of people can really amount to millions of people. Remember “small” on the internet can mean “many people” (this is a huge place). If you’re going to hire programmers and designers, at least know the basics of the technology so that you can speak their language (otherwise, they may take advantage of you). Heck, you should learn the technology yourself even if you don’t plan on building the sites yourself. Make sure you STUDY..STUDY…STUDY…never stop learning: read books on what you’re doing, talk to people who have made it, ask questions.. listen to podcasts…brainstorm everyday. And finally, NEVER…NEVER…NEVER… give up… NO MATTER WHAT! That’s the real key to success. Yes, I lost cash, but gained priceless experience while doing so.

I’m still standing, baby!

David Askaripour
Read all of my business articles at:
http://www.cashcampus.com/ftt
—————————-
David Askaripour,now 22 years-old, started Cashcampus in New York, 2004. Cashcampus was created to help students share information, educate students on various topics, and to provide students with content just for them.

Upper Saddle River, N.J. - January 10, 2005 - With the start of the year, a flurry of articles have appeared, talking about what we can expect in the way of business trends during 2005. One of the most alarming issues is the intention of many employees to seek new jobs now that the economy is starting to improve. A recent joint survey by Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com indicated that 75% of the employees polled said they would like a different job; 43% want to increase their compensation. Similarly, a recent survey by Monster.com indicated “93% of the respondents plan to job hop.”

Many companies have taken credit for the lower level of voluntary turnover that they have enjoyed during the last few years. Although some improvements in turnover are based on positive actions that companies have taken, others appear to be strictly related to the fear of employees to look for other jobs when our economy is limping along. We believe that the old adage, “the devil I know is better than the devil I don’t know”, is a major influence in why employees have stayed where they are for the time being.

If the surveys are a realistic indication of what we can expect, the question arises: what should companies do now to thwart a big increase in turnover of trained employees seeking better opportunities? Our experience has shown that there are five (5) key steps that a company can take to generate positive results. These steps are:

1. Clarify the Compensation Philosophy - What is the labor market that the company needs to compete against for qualified employees? What is the level that the company should pay against that market? What is the best mix of pay elements for their employees? Is the pay program consistent with its Business Plan and Marketing Strategy? Addressing these questions will help the company establish a baseline against which to benchmark pay and pay practices, and establishes the company’s commitment to its compensation programs.

2. Review the Procedures for Determining Pay - What are increases based on? How will they reward varying contributions of employees doing the same job, but at different levels of performance? How equitable is the system, and how consistently is it applied? Ensuring that pay practices are equitable builds trust among employees, provides a measure of comfort with the system, and allows employees to determine how their pay is impacted by their performance.

3. Review the Performance Evaluation Process - What is the basis for making personnel decisions, including pay increases, promotions and transfers, terminations, assessing training needs, identifying expectations and accountabilities, etc.? Having a consistent means by which personnel actions are administered provides for fair treatment among employees, and assists managers in applying policies and procedures consistently among their staff.

4. Identify the Top Contributors - What is being done to determine which employees are most valuable and whose loss would seriously harm the company’s ability to operate successfully? What is the company doing to insure that employees are happy, and stay? Employees are a company’s most valuable aspect. Ensuring that the best performers are recognized for the above-par contributions to the organizations will further motivate them to exceed their goals, and can encourage other employees to challenge themselves.

5. Evaluate the Communications Process - Is management able to communicate effectively with employees? Is communication trusted and able to relay appropriate information to employees? Has management communicated its commitment to its employees and to fostering a rewarding work environment? In many instances, the biggest problem is that employees don’t know where they stand in the eyes of management. In addition, they often don’t understand how the pay programs work, or what they need to do to move ahead. This lack of understanding leads to discontent, frustration, miscommunication, problems, and eventually to the feeling that the “grass is greener elsewhere”.

Addressing these issues doesn’t insure that turnover will not increase. But it should certainly provide a strong indication to employees that their organization cares and is taking the necessary actions to improve their working environment.

Paul R. Dorf is the Managing Director of Compensation Resources, Inc. He is responsible for directing consulting services in all areas of executive compensation, short and long-term incentives, sales compensation, performance management systems, and pay-for-performance, salary administration. He has over 40 years of Human Resource and Compensation experience and has held various executive positions with a number of large corporate organizations. He also has over 20 years of direct consulting experience as head of the Executive Compensation Consulting Practices for major accounting and actuarial/benefit consulting firms, including KPMG, Deloitte Touche (formerly Touche Ross), and Kwasha Lipton.

You have decided to start up a magazine, but how do you get started, find subscribers and more importantly obtain paying advertisers so that you stay profitable?

Getting started

1. Decide what the subject of your magazine will be - make it as popular as possible, but also choose a niche. This way you pique interest and combat competition.

2. Find out where your target market is going to be. For example if you want a community magazine - try and tailor it to a market such as parents of school children etc.

3. Make sure you have enough information for several editions.

4. Set up your printing and delivery activities.

Getting subscribers and generating leads for your magazine

1. Use your web site to obtain sign ups, preferably using a sign-up box. Offer an incentive to sign up and assurance of use of their email address for legitimate reasons.

2. If you want to concentrate on off line customers, then send out a sample magazine to all of your target area, use a coupon with an incentive to sign on to receive your magazine.

3. Submit details of your newsletter to all on line directories you can find.

4. Include details of your magazine on all of your correspondence. Place an advert on your car, on tee shirts - anything you can think of.

5. Make good use of community areas to advertise your magazine - such as cafes, sports centers, shopping centers etc.

Obtaining advertisers in your magazine

You may have to run your magazine for a short while, whilst you build up your subscribers.

1. Swap ads with other magazines that have a similar target area - either geographic or lifestyle. This will ensure that you look more successful at the beginning. Few people will want to pay to be the first advertiser.

2. Make up a marketing pack consisting of a sample magazine (with adverts), details of your target area, the number of subscribers you reach etc.

3. Offer key advertising ads, such as back page, to your larger advertisers.

4. Send out your marketing pack to potential advertisers. Offer free advertising for one or more issues - or 5 ads for cost of 3 etc. This is to allow your advertisers to test out your magazines.

5. Offer free adverts for a short while to businesses that will also circulate your magazine for you.

Expanding

Everything is running smoothly so now you want to expand.

1. Look around for other markets or how to get more people in the same market.

2. Take on other writers so that you can expand your output.

3. Ask for feedback from your existing subscribers.

4. Examine how you can make things more efficient and cost effective.

5. Add to your content and your advertisers.

6. Add extra features to your magazine such as a Question and Answer section or a “Product of the Month” section.

Lastly - enjoy yourself

———————————————— Copyright 2006 Biz Guru Services Ltd Lee Lister, writes as The Biz Guru, for a number of web sites including her own sites http://www.BizGuru.us and http://www.clikks.com for all our informational products. If you are starting a new business and want advice, information and assistance then our site http://www.startmynewbusiness.com will help you. With over 20 year’s management and business consultancy experience with businesses large and small as well as being a serial entrepreneur, she now helps others set up, develop and market their businesses. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached. ————————————————