Starting a business is exciting. Suddenly, you are pursuing your dream and hoping to make money in the process. But according to Bloomberg, eight out of ten entrepreneurs who start businesses fail in the first 18-months. What can be done to prevent your own failure? Here are three major pitfalls business owners find themselves in.
By MJ Plaster
In Part I, we looked at blogs as a tool to engage and inspire your audience and to build trust. Part II covers an honest look at social media, its demographics, uses and best practices. Overlook these two powerful marketing tools at your peril because the ROI is significant in keeping your base and expanding it.
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By MJ Plaster
Back in the Dark Ages of the 20th century, customers knew merchants and did business with those they knew and trusted. Big-box stores such as Wal-Mart, big-box services such as H&R Block and online retailers such as Amazon offer little opportunity for you to get to know them. Their sheer size and impact make customers comfortable, but the typical business doesn’t have that advantage. People want to connect, especially with online providers. Connection builds trust, and people will do business with you if they trust you. If you want to bring customers into your fold with minimal expense, read on to find out what no longer works, and what two powerful marketing tools can engage your customers.
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A couple weeks ago, we took a look at the process of filing for bankruptcy. But how did this process come to exist in its current form in America?
By : Jurissa Ayala
Tis the season for shopping and, for most people, overspending. You don’t have to let that be your tale for morning after Christmas regret. You can spread holiday cheer without breaking the budget. These tips and tricks will help you resist impulse buying throughout the holidays so your New Year doesn’t begin in budget jail.
CheckWorks began blazing trails in the bank printing business four years after the end of World War I when Aloysius J. (Al) Uniack Sr. emigrated from Canada and made California his home. When epic advances have been made in check printing, the Uniacks have been at the epicenter of the innovations. First Al Sr., then his sons and now his granddaughter, carry the banner of innovation into the future. Join us as we journey through history with the Uniack family.
By: Jurissa Ayala
What is a job hunting service scam — and how does it harm both employers and employees? Job hunting service scams operate like recruitment or staffing agencies, claiming to place job seekers with prospective employers. Occasionally job hunting services may actually be able to arrange interviews and even procure a job for a job hunter, but it will always come at a considerable and unnecessary cost.
By Jurissa Ayala
In 2008, a private art collector paid $80 million for a painting by Impressionistic artist, Claude Monet. A few years earlier, $78.1 million was handed over for an original painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a peer of Monet. Pretty impressive considering Monet, Renoir and their cohorts could not sell their work for even $1 back in their upstart years.
In Paris, in the late 1870s when the Impressionism Movement began, the artists were even prohibited from displaying their work at official art exhibitions. The critics claimed the paintings were “sketch-like” and “unfinished.” One critic called one of Monet’s paintings “just an impression.” Today, those sketch-like, unfinished impressions fetch millions and millions of dollars at art auctions and are on display in some of the most famous museums in the world.
Although most people know what bankruptcy is, they may not know what the process of declaring for bankruptcy entails.
While it is perceived as being the last step for a company that is going out of business, this is not always true. In some cases, bankruptcy can be a way for a company to reorganize its debts and come out even stronger than before.
Why Would a Business File for Bankruptcy?
A company may wish to file for bankruptcy for several reasons.
First, it may not have enough money to pay all of its creditors. Therefore, filing for bankruptcy would enable them to pay creditors depending on priority. Most unsecured creditors would get nothing while secured creditors would be paid back up to the amount that remaining assets are worth. Continue reading
By MJ Plaster
Remember when having “THE Talk” meant telling kids about sex? The last time that happened was probably around the time you were a kid. Today, your child will learn more online and in school than you ever wanted to know about sex, starting as early as kindergarten. The 21st century version of “THE Talk” is about how to stay safe online. It’s up to parents to inform their children of the dangers and to steer them away from danger.
It’s no longer sufficient to move computers to common areas. Kids have phones, tablets, etc. Smart TVs are computers. Wii and other game boxes are computers. There’s no escaping cyberspace now that everything in sight is a computer, so what’s a parent to do to keep their children safe?
