1) Advertising is Key! Truth is…you can’t afford not to advertise. Statistically speaking, research shows…companies that maintain their advertising throughout a recession are poised to reap benefits over their competitors, who do not advertise, especially once the market begins to recover. Therefore, slightly increasing your advertising in order to get the edge over your competition is a good idea. However, if you’re not in a position to do that, try to maintain your normal spending levels if at all possible. First and foremost… advertising is the promotion of a company’s products or services carried out essentially to drive sales of the products or services, but also, to build a brand identity and communicate any changes or new products or services to the customer base. If you want to grow your company’s profitability and improve your bottom line…you must ADVERTISE!

2) Choose your advertising method wisely. Here are some options.

a) Print advertising: newspapers, magazines, brochures, fliers & direct mail

b) Outdoor advertising: billboards, kiosks, trade shows and events

c) Broadcast advertising: Television, Radio and Internet

d) Covert advertising or in layman’s terms “product placement”: now this is the advertising you see in motion pictures-or with sitcoms on TV…this is a unique form of advertising that companies do to showcase their product or service.

e) Public Service advertising: is traditionally reserved for socially relevant messaging, political integrity, poverty, religious or civic events, nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organizations.

f) Celebrity advertising: of course this is when a famous person is asked to be a spokesperson for your product or service. Today there are growing companies that bank on the power and influence of celebrity advertising. In most cases, the celebrity lends instant credibility and influences the target customer base positive manner thereby increasing the company’s profitability.

3) The difference between having an advertising plan and having an advertising strategy is critical. It’s like this…if you want to get from point A to point B that’s your plan. Your strategy is how you’re going to do it. For example if my plan is to drive to Savannah then I have to formulate a strategy on how I’m going to get there…either by car, plane or train etc. Once I determine the how, then I must map out my route…that’s my strategy. Your advertising plan consists of what your goal is. For instance, let’s say your plan is to increase sales by 30% and promote your special July 4th sale including half off of everything in stock. Well the advertising strategy must include the execution of the plan. If you want to inform your prospective customers about your sale…you’ve got to figure out “the how factor”…how are you going to get that message across? What vehicle will you use? Then you must strategize an effective campaign relaying the pertinent information to the target audience utilizing a creative advertisement to effectively communicate your message. You may decide to combine flyers, TV, radio & internet along with a celebrity endorsement. So the advertising plan and advertising strategy are very different but function in partnership…because one doesn’t work effectively without the other.

4) The one key word to use in advertising The best word in advertising is…”FREE” anything free is going to instantly grab attention and make your customer curious to find out what is being offered for free! However, if you’re limited on what you can offer for free…there are other advertising techniques you can use…i.e., special offers are nothing more than good old fashioned “bribery” because you hook the customer with the BUY ONE GET ONE OFFER or Buy TWO GET ONE HALF OFF! This technique is very effective because you have given the customer an incentive to spend more!

5) The most important element in effective advertising The industry terminology is called “THE CALL-TO-ACTION.” But I like to call it, the WOW Factor or the “Special Sauce.” In today’s society we are spoiled. Most of us want everything now, at our convenience and deeply discounted. Consumers today don’t want to spend too much time or energy looking for a great deal. Most importantly we look for a quality product or service at a great price. Thus, the key for any company or business…is to offer their target audience something unique that’s going to “knock their socks off!” However, you must offer something that will influence the target customer to take action right away! The WOW Factor equals activation! To make sure you get that activation; you must give it the KISS test; KEEP-IT-SWEET & SIMPLE!

Did you know owning a home based business has considerable tax benefits? The idea that only the rich have access to tax benefits is a myth!

The first step is to own a home based business and run it with the intention to make a profit. The important word there is “intention”. You don’t really have to make a profit to take advantage of these benefits. Now, you can begin a home based business for little cost and can run it part-time from your home while having a full-time job.

In time, and with some effort on your part, you will be able to leave your day job and work from your home full-time and take advantage of all of the benefits a home based business has. The best part is you can take advantage of the home based business tax benefits as soon as you start your new business!

Owning a home based business allows you to deduct some personal expenses you wouldn’t usually be able to deduct. These things include but are not limited to: dining out, a new computer for the office, dental and medical expenses, and some vacation related expenses. The money you can deduct for operating a home based business is not insignificant and can amount to well over ten thousand dollars.

Here are the top five deductible expenses for Home Based Businesses:

1. Vehicle Deduction

This IS the most complicated home based business tax benefit you get. It is also where most people get into trouble with the IRS because they didn’t correctly document their vehicle related deductions. If you are going to use vehicle deductions, I can not stress enough that you MUST document everything properly. Keeping a diary or travel log to track mileage, maintenance costs, etc. will save you time and many headaches.

How does the vehicle deduction work? Basically, you determine how much of the time you use your vehicle for your home based business as a percentage. You are then permitted to take that percentage of time and apply to the cost of operating your vehicle. For instance, if you use your vehicle 60 percent of the time for your home based business, you are permitted to deduct 60 percent of the costs of operating the vehicle.

2. Meals and Entertainment Deduction

First things first, in order to take advantage of this tax benefit, you must have proper documentation. This primarily means you need to save your receipts and record who you spoke to about your home business. Normally, you will be able to deduct up to 50 percent of the cost, but make sure you check beforehand.

As long as it is related to your home based business and document the costs properly, you can also deduct up to 100 percent of the expenses of entertaining people in your home. You may come to realize the tax benefits are much greater if you entertain in your home instead of taking someone to your favorite restaurant.

3. Home Office Deduction

This one of the more intricate home based business tax benefits, but it has the potential to save you thousands of dollars every year you own your business.

To claim the home office deduction:

1. You must render significant administrative or management activities for your business out of your home. For example, you do your paperwork, make calls, do your training, and perform other business functions out of a set area in your home.
2. You have no other office where you conduct significant management or administrative activities for your business.
3. You must use a specific part of your home exclusively for business. It doesn’t need to be an entire room though. A particular section will do.
4. You must use this designated section regularly for at least 45 minutes a day, four or more days a week. The work hours must not be occasional or sudden.

What can you deduct? You are permitted to deduct part of your home, utilities, and part of the interest and taxes you pay that are related to owning your home. You can also deduct office supplies like new computers, printers, phones and furniture used for your home business.

4. Travel Deduction

Did you know the Internal Revenue Code (Section 162) allows you to deduct “traveling expenses…while away from home in pursuit of a trade or business…”? As the owner of a home based business, you can visit family and friends all over the world and deduct some of the expenses associated with the trip. You just have to make sure at least half of the days of your trip are “business days”. Essentially, as long as you plan ahead and document properly, you can deduct a lot of the costs associated with traveling and vacationing… Every year. How is that for a home based business tax benefit?

5. Medical Expenses Deduction

In order to take advantage of this home based business tax benefit and, you will need to employ your spouse and cover them with a comprehensive family medical plan. This allows you to deduct all of the costs associated with the your family’s medical expenses. But, there two important requirements in order to take advantage of this deduction.

The first is you must have proof your spouse has done actual work for your home based business. The second is you must establish a legal document called a “Self Insured Medical Reimbursement Plan.” Do a search on that phrase in Google to see what that entails. It’s pretty straight forward.

There are a lot of advantages one can enjoy if you are able to establish your own business, especially if you conduct it at the comforts of your own home. With a home based business you will be the one to dictate your own schedule and more importantly, you will have the opportunity to earn the kind of money you want. It should be noted though that starting a business requires a lot of hard work and time as well, even though it would be done at home. It is best that you follow certain steps, so that it would serve as your guide in jump starting your home business.The very first thing that you need to do in starting your home based business is to determine which among the many options you want to try. There are several home based income opportunities you can choose from these days, and choosing which one you want is actually one of the crucial steps you need to take.In choosing your home based income opportunity, you need to know that you can either choose to go the internet way or conduct a business at home offline. If you are more comfortable conducting a business at home operated offline, then you need to choose whether you want to sell items or provide services. If you are a sales kind of person, then you need to choose a product to sell, or make one. Selling certain products at home is not as difficult as it seems, especially if you have a designated place you can conduct your business on. For example, you can always hold garage sales, so that you can conveniently do it at your own garage. Aside from that, you can also sell pastries or deserts, which you can simply place inside your refrigerators. With this, you actually do not need to have an actual place to conduct your business, since people will just drop by to buy your products. On top of that, you can soon accept orders, so that you will have more chances of expanding your business.Providing services is another way of starting a business based at home. You can provide tutoring; dog walking, or handyman services at home. Aside from that if you are quite a techie person, then offering to troubleshoot and fix computers would also be a good way to earning some money and eventually start your business. You need to make sure that you provide high quality services, so that you will be able to gain more clients. With more clients you have, you will be able to expand your business in just a short period of time. The important thing about providing services is to identify your skills and talents, which you think would be able to help people. Therefore, starting today, you should try to get to know yourself better and identify them.Once you have determined the kind of home based business opportunity you want, you need to make people around the neighborhood be aware that your business exists. You can do this by applying certain marketing techniques to promote your business. You can make use of banners and post them on strategic points in your location, so that people in your community would soon call or visit you. Tell your friends and relatives about your business, so that they can also help in spreading the news.