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October 2006

In This Issue
	BizLink Updates 1.) Question of the Month 2.) Use an Assessment to Hire the Right Candidate for Your Small Business 3.) Word-of-mouth referrals and the bottom-line 4.) Business Expense Information from Uncle Sam 5.) Seven tips for getting control of your messy office. 6.) Laid off? Get up and start your own business 7.) Why 'elevator pitches' help win customers 8.) Leverage the incredible reach of referrals

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Dear Scott,

As the holiday season approaches and many turn their sites to busy family and friend activities, we at BizLink wanted to wish you well and offer a few business thoughts to balance your busy schedule.

BizLink Updates

BizLink has contracted with Olson & Associates of Denver, Colorado to provide national recruiting opportunities for 2007. Our commitment to Olson is to provide 270 new employees for the 1st quarter. BizLink relies solely on our Recruiters to meet this commitment. Recruiters remember you can recruit nationally. Let’s surpass this employee number even before the end of March ’07! Recruiters: Keep an eye peeled for some powerful new print materials coming your way to help provide even greater air cover for your efforts! Visit our web site at www.bizlinkbiz.com and click on “Becoming a Recruiter” top right for a sight and sound presentation that you will find of value, even if you’ve been a Recruiter for years! Questions or suggestions contact us at recruiters@bizlinkbiz.com. Please provide your name and city as well as your question or suggestion in your email. DSAs: Congratulations to Marshall Tanner for his referral! DSAs don’t forget that referrals to the BizLink Community mean rewards for you. Keep them coming! Be on the lookout for some exciting new developments centered around our current Distribution Program! More information and important guidelines will be provided very soon! DSAs if you have questions or suggestions contact us at dsas@bizlinkbiz.com. Please give us your name, your Recruiter’s name, as well as your question or suggestion in your email. Contact us to learn more.

1.) Question of the Month

Question of the Month: How can established Recruiters get the latest information on program updates and general BizLink information? Answer: We are increasing our number of recruiters almost weekly and anticipate continued growth. With this growth it becomes increasingly important for our Recruiters to be proactive and avail themselves with the tools provided on our web site at www.bizlinkbiz.com . We are very intent on your success and want to ensure a smooth process for you to have everything you need to get your DSAs up and running and provide training answers to your questions. On our website you can find all the tools needed to get rolling. Simply login to the special Recruiter password protected section for all updates, and while there, be sure to check out the general Bizlink information located throughout our site. Need your password? Please cont act us if we may provide it to you, or if you need additional support. Also, cont act us to send your questions or comments on the BizLink Community. Our programs are designed for you and we love getting your continued feedback!

2.) Use an Assessment to Hire the Right Candidate for Your Small Business

As a small business owner, you know how critical it is to ensure that you hire the right person so s/he can be an effective employee from the start. A client once asked me to assess her and her assistant in an effort to improve communications between them. I’ll call them Mary and Abigail (not their real names). Mary and Abigail each took a DISC assessment on line, and I met with them individually to review the results. Our ultimate objective was to improve communication in their working relationship. Well, the results were not quite as expected. They revealed that Mary and Abigail were worlds apart in their professional preferences, objectives, and communication styles. The assessment truly identified these differences and ultimately resulted in their parting ways. When Mary was ready to hire a new assistant, she wanted to ensure she hired the right one. She interviewed two candidates, and I administered the assessment to both of them individually. The results presented a clear understanding of each candidate’s communication style and work preferences, making it easier for Mary to choose the right one. A year later, I learned that Mary was thrilled with the assistant she hired and that she had virtually doubled her business. Here’s how an assessment, plus some key considerations can help you conduct an effective search for the ideal employee: Clarify your organization’s mission and goals first. What do you want to accomplish? What do you value? Once you know what you value as a person, a business owner, and an employer, you can compare your values with those of the candidate. Be clear about the job. In a small business, a valuable employee can wear many hats and play many roles. Take time to spell out the individual tasks associated with the job. Screen candidates on the telephone BEFORE sit- down interviews. This can save you time and energy. Screening your candidates on the telephone can weed out inappropriate applicants. Establish your vacation, benefits, time-on/off policies. Be clear about your attendance policy. Some candidates like to work with small companies because the owners are believed to be more flexible. Determine just how flexible you want to be and set expectations from the beginning. Use an assessment to evaluate communications skills and work preferences. An assessment can help you define communications and work styles, as well as keys to motivating and managing them. Many assessments are simple, affordable, and straightforward. Some can be taken on line in 15-20 minutes. A certified evaluator or coach then reviews the results with the candidate and relays the information to you. Assessing a candidate from the start gives you a clearer picture of how s/he communicates and relates to you and others in your company, as well as your clients. Also, you may want to bring an employee on board to help create the position and develop its responsibilities. An assessment can be extremely valuable here to ensure that you know the candidate’s communication style and motivation. You work hard at building your business. Save yourself time and money by ensuring that you engage the right individual with whom you can work well, who you can employ to grow your business, and who shares your passion for your work. See how an assessment can help you build your business! By Peggy Titus-Hall, CPCC, ACC President PeopleGrowth, LLC. Peggy Titus-Hall is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach focusing on career transition and communications coaching and training. She hosts an on-line radio program entitled “The Career Coach,” featuring experienced guests and topics for career transitioners and job seekers and publishes “The Coaching Call,” a monthly coaching/communications newsletter. Contact Peg at www.peoplegrowthllc.com.

3.) Word-of-mouth referrals and the bottom-line

Even in today’s media-driven world, there is no better form of advertising than word-of-mouth—a personal referral from someone whose opinions others trust and respect. Small business owners are among the biggest beneficiaries of word-of-mouth referrals, as they require no advertising or marketing budget. While you cannot always control how and when referrals come about, there are many ways to start and sustain a positive buzz about your business. Here are a few of those sources: Everyone can use good cheerleaders Build a team of supporters for your business—friends, family members and colleagues who routinely talk up your business to their friends and acquaintances. Make sure that they know enough about your qualifications and capabilities to make an accurate and convincing case to others. Network, Network, Network Get involved with professional associations related to your industry or field. You’ll get to know experts and colleagues in your specific market. And, they may know of immediate or potential opportunities for your business. Other good networking opportunities include local or regional business associations, Chambers of Commerce and non-profits aligned with your field. Capitalize on Your Current Customers At the conclusion of all successful projects, thank your customers for their support and express your interest in working with them again. Also encourage them to pass along your name to others. If your operating budget can handle it, consider offering discounts for customer referrals. Become a Knowledge Source Take advantage of opportunities to show what you know by offering free presentations or articles on timely issues to business, professional and community organizations and publications. Make sure that your presentation/article is relevant to listeners’ interests, not a thinly veiled commercial for your business. Keep in Touch Don’t wait for customers to call you. Contact them from time to time to see how things are going, personally and professionally; what issues or trends they’re dealing with; and perhaps alert them to an event, article or Web site that may be of interest. Give as Well as Receive Every small business should have a network of colleagues and associates to call on to handle excess workload, or provide service or experience you may not have. These relationships almost always result in “reciprocal referrals” to you. Do a Good Job There’s no better source for a positive referral than a happy customer. And remember that the quality of your service says as much about you as the quality of your work or product. Responsiveness, the ability to help out with tight deadlines builds goodwill and a good reputation for your business.

4.) Business Expense Information from Uncle Sam

Here are a few pointers from the IRS: What Can I Deduct? To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your trade or business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary. It is important to separate business expenses from the following expenses: The expenses used to figure the cost of goods sold Capital Expenses Personal Expenses Note: If you have an expense that is partly for business and partly personal, separate the personal part from the business part. Personal Expenses Generally, you cannot deduct personal, living, or family expenses. However, if you have an expense for something that is used partly for business and partly for personal purposes, divide the total cost between the business and personal parts. You can deduct as a business expense only the business part. Business Use of Your Home If you use part of your home for business, you may be able to deduct expenses for the business use of your home. These expenses may include mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation. Business Use of Your Car If you use your car in your business, you can deduct car expenses. Refer to additional information from the Internal Revenue Service, reference, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses for more information. For a list of current and prior year mileage rates see their Standard Mileage rates also on their website. Other Types of Business Expenses Employees' Pay - You can generally deduct the pay you give your employees for the services they perform for your business. Retirement Plans - Retirement plans are savings plans that offer you tax advantages to set aside money for your own, and your employees', retirement. Rent Expense - Rent is any amount you pay for the use of property you do not own. In general, you can deduct rent as an expense only if the rent is for property you use in your trade or business. If you have or will receive equity in or title to the property, the rent is not deductible. Interest - Business interest expense is an amount charged for the use of money you borrowed for business activities. Taxes - You can deduct various federal, state, local, and foreign taxes directly attributable to your trade or business as business expenses. Insurance - Generally, you can deduct the ordinary and necessary cost of insurance as a business expense, if it is for your trade, business, or profession. Source: Internal Revenue Service

5.) Seven tips for getting control of your messy office.

Use hanging files.This is basic, but it's still worth saying: Filing papers in manila folders isn't enough. The folder needs to go into something that you can easily slip in and out of your filing cabinets, and that something in a hanging folder. If you label the hanging folder with a plastic file tab, you'll not only know what's in the folder; you'll also have a handle for pulling the folder open. Have a file of files. As a suggestion, have a file index that lists all the names of all the files in your office. With a file index, you'll be able to see if you have file names that overlap or conflict. For example, you don't want to duplicate efforts such as a file labeled "car" and another labeled "automobile." With your files in one place, you'll be able to whittle them down to the bare minimum. Change the names that you don't immediately recognize or that are repeating other file names. Make a "to do" pile, and then, actually, do it. Your "to do" stack can be whatever papers, phone calls, messages, or projects are your priority. The key is to look at it as something you have to act upon, not something that is going to take up permanent residence on your desk. Use your wastebasket. You don’t have to save all of your papers forever. Consider tossing a file if you neither have an immediate need for it nor need to do something with it, wouldn't have trouble getting another copy if necessary, don't see any tax or legal implications for it, and can live with whatever you think might be the worst result of not having the information. Get rid of "miscellaneous," "assorted" and "other" folders. Files with these names can become dumping grounds for papers that you don't really need or haven't looked at in years. Organize your contact information. Business cards can be a major source of clutter. The paper solution is to transfer the information to a card file — staple or tape a business card right to the file. The electronic solution is to enter the information into a personal digital assistant or contact management software. Email management solutions have many features to sort through your contacts. Business card scanners can also be handy devices for assisting with this task. Not a solution: Stacking up the cards you've been given into a neat pile, (we’ve all done that). Use your computer. A lot of the paper we've traditionally printed out and photocopied can now just as easily be scanned into our computer system and electronically transmitted to other businesses and individuals. Electronic files, properly established and maintained, can be easier to set up and access than paper files.

6.) Laid off? Get up and start your own business

That pink slip handed to you recently may not have been a surprise, but it still hurt anyway, didn't it? Now the emotional toll has almost run its course. You are seriously ready to begin plotting your next move. Consider this: You could just start applying for a new job. Or you could try a different tact. You could take your technology, marketing or other job- related skills and establish yourself as a business. This just happens to be a growing trend today, because there is a demand for consultants, contractors, project workers and other "free agents". Looking at industry trends, a lot of companies now would rather hire specialists from the outside, to save on labor and benefits costs. There is room for you too in this arena, if you can answer "yes" to these questions: Do you provide a skill or service that is marketable in today's economy? Do you have potential clients? Extremely important: Can you sell yourself? Do you have the discipline and patience it takes to work at it? Do you have enough money to live on while you market yourself to other businesses? Do you know how to use the Internet as a business tool? If so, you too can be a free agent. You could make money while ultimately positioning yourself for that perfect job in the corporate sector. Or, maybe you would find that working for yourself is profitable and suits you better than working at a company. Want to talk to a BizLink representative about leveraging our national presence? Cont act us today!

7.) Why 'elevator pitches' help win customers

If you asked everyone who works at your company to tell you about the business, how many different answers would you hear? Chances are you would hear about as many different stories as the number of employees. That's unfortunate because employees could be your best public relations machine. They are out in the community, meeting potential customers, suppliers and others who can impact your business — both for better and worse. Why not equip your staff with the information they need to make a good impression? No business can have too many friends and your employees are just the people to help make them. Everyone on your payroll should be able to provide a short introduction to your company, ideally geared to the interests of the person that they've just met. Follow that with an exchange of business cards and you now have one more person who has a favorable impression of your company and knows someone who works there. The elevator pitch is a quick description of what your company does and why your company is special. There are three things that need to be in an elevator pitch: What your company does. Why it's better/different than your competitors — first, only, best, largest, service-focused, etc. Where to get more info. "I'd be glad to send you more information," "Our Web site has all the details," or "Can I set up a meeting to tell you more?"

8.) Leverage the incredible reach of referrals

Trust is key. The reason referrals (and their cousins, testimonials) are so effective is because they carry immediate credibility. The price tag for a referral might simply be a lunch, a phone call or the cost of attending a conference. Don't forget to ask. Many people believe that doing a good job is all that's necessary to generate referrals. Even when customers are terrifically satisfied, they forget to refer business mostly because your needs are not on their minds. So get in the habit of asking every satisfied client if he or she knows somebody who would also appreciate your services. Join a networking group. Trade associations and professional organizations are good places to generate referrals. Don't forget community service or religious groups, the chambers of commerce and charitable organizations. Final word on Referrals: Don’t forget to use the BizLink Community as your national referral base! It will definitely payoff for you!

This online newsletter is proudly brought to you by BizLink Inc. where we are "Connecting America’s Small Business To Opportunity and Growth." www.bizlinkbiz.com

email: bizlink@bizlinkbiz.com

phone: 877-205-1925

web: http://www.bizlinkbiz.com