Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 14, 2013

B4

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

 Mountain Views News Saturday. December 14, 2013 


GET THE CREDIT YOU DESERVE


PLANNING FOR A NEW WEB SITE

Your web site is the cornerstone of your online presence. Investing in it is 
important. Your web site is often the first impression a potential customer, 
client, volunteer, donor or investor has of your business or non-profit. Isn’t it 
worth a bit of planning?

Step One - Needs Assessment

“I need a new web site. How much does it cost?” is like asking “I need new transportation. How much 
does it cost?” Do you simply need a new pair of shoes, a piggy-back ride, a bus pass, a skateboard, a 
boat, a hot air balloon, an airplane ticket, or do you need a Ferrari that matches your private jet?

The point is, creating your website is not a one-size fits all solution.

Every business requires a unique solution. Sure, some of the technology will be similar to other sites, 
but the final solution should be customized to fit your business. 

A good web site solution is designed to fit an organization’s needs, wants and intended audience. 
Each business and non-profit has a unique flavor, unique needs, unique offerings, unique budget and 
unique goals. Each deserves a unique look and feel.

Since the potential solutions have a wide range of possibilities, step one is to define your needs and 
hence the scope and purpose of your new web site.

Needs assessment starts with four important questions:

1. What do you want your web site to do? (sell, inform, collect information, etc.)
2. How does it fit into your overall online system and business?
3. What is your budget?
4. What other tools need to work with your site? (email capture, social media etc.)


Taking time to answer these questions will set the stage to move on to the next important step of 
establishing an online web presence that will contribute to the success of your business or organization.

About MJ: MJ and her brother David own HUTdogs, a creative services business that specializes in 
Internet Marketing strategies and Social Media. They offer social media management services and 
help their clients build a strong on-line presence. “Like” them on Facebook for trending news in social 
media, internet marketing and other helpful tips, www.facebook.com/hutdogs.

Sign up for their upcoming classes and presentations at: www.hutdogs.com/workshops/schedule

Mortgage applications are being reviewed far more thoroughly now than in the past, and your credit 
score should be 680 or higher to qualify for the best in-terest rates. So how do you determine your 
score, and know you're getting the credit you deserve?

Everyone is allowed one free credit report per year from the three reporting agencies (Experian, 
Equifax and TransUnion). Review the reports for accura-cy and act quickly to correct any errors or 
omissions. 

Approximately 35% of your credit score is based on the timeliness of your payments. Make sure that 
no late payments older than seven years are still on your report.

If you have paid off loans or credit cards, a zero balance should appear on those accounts. Sometimes, 
agencies don't properly update those balances af-ter settlement.

15% of your credit score is based on the length of your credit history, so make sure that the opening 
dates of all your accounts are accurate. Also make sure that the limits on your credit cards are correct, 
and keep the balances under 50% of those limits. Total debt accounts for 30% of your credit score.

Finally, think twice about closing credit card accounts with zero balances, be-cause this negatively 
reduces your ratio of "available credit" to your debt. First, get the facts. Then, make corrections. Finally, 
apply for home fi-nancing with confidence!

BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques


By La Quetta M. Shamblee, MBA

WINNING WITH COLLABORATIVE COMPETITION

If you’re in a major city and see the infamous golden arches in the distance letting you know that a 
Big Mac or other familiar options await you at McDonald’s, you can guarantee that you will find at 
least one or more of their major competitors in very close proximity. Jack In The Box, Carl’s Jr’s or the 
heathier Subway option are certain to be among your choices. The big guys understand and embrace 
the benefits of a collaborative competition, of sorts.

Modern day malls and shopping centers are nothing more than a contemporary adaptation of the 
age-old concept of the marketplace dating back to ancient times. These marketplaces were sometimes 
permanent fixtures in townships, an in other instances, operated similar to weekly farmers’ markets 
and community festivals. Each month across America, a robust schedule of traveling trunk shows, 
crafts fair and other specialty events appeal to millions with interests in everything from jewelry 
making to collecting antique firearms.

All of these examples point to the power and profitability of collaborative competition. Entrepreneurs 
who understand this concept are better able to identify and develop opportunities otherwise hidden 
to those who can view competition only as threat. The opportunity for more individuals and families 
to own businesses increased as we made the transition from small clusters of townships, separated by 
vast rural areas where the majority of American lived prior to the Industrial Revolution of the early 
1800’s. Today’s major urban centers evolved out of this economic boom as waves of people moved to 
benefit from job opportunities.

With the temporary dismantling of the traditional, one-stop country store and the cursory one store 
per major merchandise category that dictated one-blacksmith, or one-seamstress, or one-café per 
town, the reality of supply and demand made it feasible for competitors to come together to create the 
modern day marketplaces. As the population density increased, so did the need for more businesses 
selling goods and services in the same categories. 

There was a time in small town USA when opening a similar business close to a competitor would 
have been considered an insult, a frontal assault. We’re almost three generations beyond the era when 
the successful strategy for retail and food businesses was to maintain a healthy physical distance from 
one’s direct competition. Clusters of vendors hocking their crafts and wares at community festivals 
and similar venues were the exception and one of the few places where this practice would have been 
viewed as acceptable.

Take a stroll into the food court area of any regional mall to see the benefits of collaborative 
competition. There was a time when the choice of food outlets in these venues was very limited, and 
it would have been thought quite outrageous for them to have been located in adjacent spaces. A brief 
observation will reveal that all of the competitors in this situation benefit as hungry shoppers, who 
are undecided when they step into this area, gaze across the choice of eateries. Repeated hundreds 
of times daily, think of this process as the lottery that results in wins for every competitor in the food 
court area over time.

Likewise, small businesses have opportunity to develop collaborative competition models to their 
benefit within specific industry categories or geographic categories. Regions where cities are 
clustered near major urban centers and accessible transportation are ripe for establishing shopping 
districts and travel associations. This can create opportunities for small businesses to benefit from 
shared marketing and promotional efforts. Thoughtful and well-planned models for collaborative 
competition can contribute to a significant increase in business at a more favorable cost for all of the 
small businesses involved.


RICH Johnson 

2013 GIFT SUGGESTIONS: THE MAGIC 8 BALL 
AND THE PET ROCK

Have you ever had an 
idea for an invention? 
We’re told that an 
infinitesimal number 
of invention (and patents) actually ultimately 
turn into successful money making ventures. 
The number is something like 99.2% of new 
inventions fail.

What makes an invention or patent successful? 
Probably the most important element is 
marketing. Also, an incredible stroke of luck 
that causes a product to “go viral” which means 
spread like a virus. Someone likes a product 
(becomes infected) and shares the idea with 
friends. Thanks to social media outlets like 
facebook and Twitter, going viral is more and 
more of a regular societal happening.

Some of these viral success stories predate the 
internet and social media. Take the Magic 8 
ball. Someone in your family has or had one. 
Remember, you ask the little black ball and 
quickly turn the ball over. One of 20 or so 
different sayings on a 20 sided dice (called a 
icosahedron) popped up. The sayings? Ten 
of the sayings were positive: “It is certain”, 
“It is decidedly so”, “Without a doubt”, “Yes 
definitely”, “You may rely on it”, “As I see it, 
yes”, “Most likely”, “Outlook good”, “Yes”, 
and rounding out the positive answers, “Signs 
point to yes”.

Five of the sayings were iffy: “Reply hazy try 
again”, “Ask again later”, “Better not tell you 
now”, “Cannot predict now”, “Concentrate and 
ask again”

And the last five were not optimistic: “Don’t 
count on it”, “My reply is no”, “My sources say 
no”, “Outlook not so good”, “Very doubtful”.

About a million of these Magic 8 Balls sell 
every year. You can purchase a Magic 8 Ball on 
Amazon for $9.68. If you’d like one that gives 
you rude and crude offensive answers it will 
cost you $17.95. Oh, and it is now available as 
an App.

The Pet Rock is another phenomenon of a crazy 
idea going viral. This miracle product first 
appeared in 1975. The Pet Rock was described 
as the perfect pet. You never had to feed it, take 
it for a walk, give it a bath. Also it would never 
pass on to that rock quarry in the sky. A big 
part of the gift was the 32-page official training 
manual titled “The Care and Training of Your 
Pet Rock”. It contained several commands that 
could be taught to your new pet. The easiest 
were “sit” and “stay”. “Roll over” was a bit 
more difficult and required a little help from 
the trainer. “Attack” was also a fairly simple 
command but again required a little help from 
the trainer. The Pet Rock sold for $3.75 and the 
inventor sold one and a half million. Pet Rocks 
are still available through Amazon. They cost 
$6.00 but now include a leash.

Speaking of luck, the Vegan community and 
our desire to all be lucky have helped another 
novelty product go viral. Most popular during 
Thanksgiving this product gives everyone at 
a Thanksgiving dinner have a 50-50 chance of 
being lucky. What is it? Figure it out? It is the 
Plastic Wishbone. The Lucky Break Wishbone 
Corporation manufactures and sells fake 
wishbones. You can purchase four for $3.99, 
or 400 for $195.00. Wanna get lucky?