p14, v7.23 — Business News & Trends

Business News & Trends

Mountain Views News Saturday, June 8, 2013

MVNews this week: Page 14

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

Mountain Views News Saturday, June 8, 2013

BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques

By La Quetta M. Shamblee, MBA

5 BEST PRACTICES FOR COLLECTING
EMAILS AND FOLLOWING UP AFTER A
TRADE SHOW

Getting booth space at a live event is great exposure for your business. It’s also an opportunity to
grow your email list so you can stay in touch with the people who stopped by your booth. Over
time, these people could become valuable contacts for your business. As they get to know you
and trust you, they might become paying customers or great word of mouth promoters. Here
are 5 best practices:

1. Make your booth stand out. Think about color and signs that grab attention and how
to show off the personality of your brand. When we have a booth at a live event, it looks like a
fun tiki hut with bamboo poles, signs and a grass roof. It gets people to stop by and talk to us
and adds an element of fun.
2. Make sure people know that they are being added to your email list if they put their
card in your fish bowl. Put a sign on your bowl with an arrow that says, “Drop your card here
to receive email updates from us.” You want to make sure that you build your email list with
permission and make it clear to them that they will be added to the list. You might even print
out a copy of what your emails look like to show them what they are signing up for.
3. Use an email service provider like Constant Contact. Upload the emails you collected
at the event into an email service provider so that you can legally send group emails and track
the results. You can find out who opened the email and what calls to action they clicked on.
You can measure behavior.
4. Assign the email names to their own list. To keep track of the people you met, put
them into their own list. In Constant Contact, you simply create a new list, name it and add
the emails to that list. This will help remind you where you met people and will allow you to
message just those people when you want.
5. Send them an email within 24 hours. Timing is important. If you wait too long, people
will forget about you. Send an email while the event is still fresh in their mind. You might
include a fun picture of your booth or an interesting moment from the event. You could say
something like, “It was nice meeting you at the XYZ event yesterday. Thanks for stopping by
our booth. We had a great time meeting everyone and we probably ate too many cupcakes (add
your personality)! If you would like to learn more about us, call us at_____ or visit our web site
at ____ (give some type of call to action).” Make sure to put links to your web site and to your
social media sites.

It’s important to stay in touch and make sure you deliver what you promised. An email once a
month with interesting content will work for most businesses. You want to stay top of mind so
people don’t forget about you. If you deliver an email that people will look forward to, you just
might find your next greatest customer or fan.

About MJ: MJ and her brother David own HUTdogs, a creative services business that specializes
in internet marketing strategies and Social media education. “Like” them on Facebook for
trending news in social media, internet marketing and other helpful tips, www.facebook.com/
hutdogs.

They love to share knowledge and create networking opportunities at their live events. Check
out their schedule at: www.hutdogs.com/workshops/schedule

Barbara Corcoran, real estate mogul and one
of the “Sharks” on ABC’s popular “Shark Tank”
television show provided a great analogy about
teamwork in a recent interview captured on a
Success Magazine CD. She used the offensive
line of a football team as one example of what
can happen when a group of people commit to
a common goal and do their individual best on
behalf of the team. “They’re like a moving wall
that is unstoppable,” says Barbara.

If you’ve ever watched or played any team sport,
you can relate to this dynamic. Whether it is
soccer, basketball or hockey, whenever a team
begins to dominate the competition, it is because
they have tapped into a seemingly magical zone
of many becoming one powerful force.

This principle applies to any business, large
or small. Three simple questions provide a
framework to select and build a team.

What do you want or need to accomplish?
Answering this question will pinpoint the
end destination. It will serve as the goal line,
leading the winning touchdown, the point
of repeated achievement and celebration as
the team prepares to move toward the goal of
another win, ultimately ranking among the top
teams vying for championship status.

What is the type of knowledge, skills
and talents needed to move toward, and
ultimately complete your goal? Answering
this question provides important information
for you to set the baseline criteria for the
requirements needed to play on your team.
In small businesses, the tendency is to recruit
individuals who are readily available, like
relatives, friends or others that you already
know. This isn’t necessarily a bad choice, but
anyone who you invite to join your team must
fit the criteria of what your team actually needs.

Your retired Aunt Sally may have a lot of free
time and be available and willing to serve as
your receptionist a few days during the week
as you work to establish your bookkeeping
business. However, if you dear aunt retired
from her job as a pastry chef but doesn’t have
any office skills beyond knowing how to answer
phones and use e-mail, she has no business on
your team.

What do you have to offer?

For businesses already established, the obvious
answer is a competitive compensation package
and the best possible work environment.
For newly founded businesses with limited
resources, the answer is the same, although the
nature of what you will offer to “compensate”
the team member(s) will look very different
initially. Many people are willing to forgo
a great salary in the beginning if they are
confident that they will be rewarded after the
company moves beyond the start up phase into
profitability.

What are the Team Assignments?

Once you’re recruited your team, it’s important
that each member understands the roles,
responsibilities and parameters of what is
expected. Although you, the business owner,
are the leader by default, make sure that you
identify and provide opportunities for others
to move and grow in to leadership positions as
the size and profits of your company expand.
Here too, if you don’t have the basic skill set
to function as a effective leader and manager,
invest in learning those skills, or bring in a
team member who strong in these areas.

By building a strong team, with strong
management to provide the appropriate
training, support and leadership needed for
the team to operate, you can build a team that
thrives in your respective industry.

BUILD YOUR TEAM, BUILD YOUR BUSINESS

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DOLLARS AND ENTS

By Carl Davis, CIMA

RETIREMENT INCOME STRATEGIES
IN A LOW INTEREST RATE
ENVIRONMENT

It’s no secret that generating income in retirement
is not as easy as it used to be. We’ve experienced
a dramatic decline in interest rates over the past
30 years. According to data published by the
Federal Reserve Bank, a 10-year U.S. Treasury
note (at constant maturity) yielded just under 11
percent in June 1983, 30 years ago. By June 1993,
that same bond yielded 5.96 percent, and it kept
trending lower to 3.33 percent ten years ago in
June 2003.

Yet today’s yield on the 10-year Treasury, in the
2 percent range, pales in comparison. In other
words, an individual investing $100,000 in a
U.S. Treasury note in April when interest rates
were 1.76 percent would receive about $147 per
month in interest income. That same investment
would have earned in excess of $900 per month
in 1983, more than five times the cash flow a 10-
year Treasury note generates today.

Finding higher income

There are few signs that Federal Reserve policy or
federal government actions will do much to alter
the interest rate environment in any significant
way in the near future. While it seems reasonable
to expect interest rates to, at least gradually, move
higher from today’s historically low levels, the
timing and severity of such a move is hard to
predict.

Retirees or those entering retirement need to
look at income strategies differently today. Some
solutions could include:

A “bucket” approach

Consider setting aside 2-3 years’ worth of income
in cash or cash equivalent assets. This is money
that will not earn much return (if any), but will
be readily available to meet income needs over
the near term without risk of loss. The rest of
your assets could be invested within your risk
tolerance in a well-diversified portfolio. Though
no strategy is perfect, this balance can help a
retiree meet short- and long- term expenses.

Seek investments that can generate higher
income

You likely have different goals for various
investments, so while investing in some more
conservative investments make sense, you may
hope to generate more income in others. To
generate income, there are a variety of options
to consider, but investors should take great
care in doing so. It’s worthwhile to explore
different ways to enhance yields you earn from
your portfolio, but it should be accomplished
by building a diversified mix of assets that are
suitable for your risk tolerance. It’s generally
wise to avoid putting all or most of your money
into a single investment to provide an income
stream. A financial professional can help you
understand and review all of your options and
help you design an effective strategy for your
circumstances and risk tolerance level.

Annuities

You may want to dedicate a portion of your assets
to an annuity that can provide a stable stream
of income independent of market conditions.
Consistent with the market as a whole, annuity
payout rates are lower today than they once were,
so this may not solve all of your cash flow needs,
but an annuity can help make sure that you have
a sufficient income stream to pay essential living
costs in retirement. Note that any guarantees,
including income, are subject to the claims
paying ability of the issuing company.

Cutting back on expenses

Finding ways to generate income is usually only
part of the solution for investors. Many retirees
today are experiencing a reality check about
their lifestyles. In today’s environment, it may be
necessary to determine trade-offs you’re willing
to make to afford the essential and lifestyle
expenses you need and want.

Planning for retirement is complicated so
no matter how you choose to invest, do your
homework to make sure you understand all of
your options and the risks and opportunities
associated with current market and economic
conditions. Consider meeting with a financial
professional that can help you define your risk
tolerance and help you prepare for retirement
based on your individual goals and circumstances.

Carl H Davis, CIMA®, CRPC® is a Financial Advisor
and Vice President with Ameriprise Financial Services,
Inc. in Los Angeles , CA He specializes in fee-based
financial planning and asset management strategies
and has been in practice for 37 years. To contact him at
310-954-2566 or via email @ carl.h.davis@ampf.com,
or at 10880 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90024

Brokerage, investment and financial advisory services
are made available through Ameriprise Financial
Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC.

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