Smart Money Choice$

I’m sure you’ve heard all the noise about the BIG claims of mega-success by businesses who are using Social Media to promote their businesses. But is it really just that – a lot of NOISE that doesn’t mean a hill of beans in the real world? Or is this  an important trend that small business owners need to pay attention to for the sake of their bottom line?

Cut through the hype and find out what the real deal is with social media. Get straight answers from an expert who’s actually doing it and knows first hand whether it’s really just a big waste of time, or if you can truly use it to market your business profitably.

Join me, Gabrielle Fontaine, and my special guest, marketing expert and social media guru, Ely Delaney as we cut through the hype and finally learn…

* How to use social media to build relationships with prospects, customer and referral sources

* How social media is changing the way we do business

* How to easily get up and running on the three biggest and most strategic social media networks

* How to attract quality “friends” and “followers” without getting caught up in the numbers game

* What free automation tools you can use to maximize your reach and save time in the process

* How to avoid getting sucked in to wasting a ton of time keeping up with your social posting

* What NOT to do so you don’t make enemies, or worse, get banned from the social networking sites

* How networking online is not the same as in-person networking

Find out for yourself why such respected business authorities as Inc. Magazine are now saying that Social Media really is worth your time.

Isn’t it time you found out how to put it to work for YOUR business? Now you can, right after you attend this cut-to-the-chase, FREE, get-action webinar.

Join us Thursday, July 8 at 8:00 PM Eastern Time for this LIVE webinar training.

“Social Media” Online Business Networking Basics”

Grab your seat as our free guest right here:

=> Register Here

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Not enough cash coming in?

Many small businesses battle cash flow problems, sometimes for years. This can be dangerous, especially in a choppy economy.

If you have frequent cash flow pinches, these days you’re really living on the edge.

If you’re tired of the “excitement” and want to avoid ultimate disaster, you need to be asking some important questions, and then taking decisive action.

How do you know there is a real problem?

This may seem obvious, but you need to know from a very basic standpoint if there are serious issues brewing in your business  as soon as possible. A cash pinch could be a serious warning sign.

Besides looking at your bank account balance, your Profit & Loss Report (also known as your Income Statement) is a quick way to identify the main issue(s).

Has there been a big dip in how much you’re bringing in in Sales recently? Do you compare your sales numbers on a monthly basis. Knowing your numbers helps you identify dangerous trends that could be emerging.

What about your expenses? Has there been a big increase in overhead over a short period of time? Or has the change in the economy caused some of your cost for making each sale to creep higher and higher?

Another question to ask is….

Do cash flow problems keep coming back?

Many businesses are seasonal and typically have a high season and a low season. If you’ve had a crunch like this before, you will want to compare your numbers to last year at this time. Did you have the same problem? Is there something you can do that would help to even out the cash flow?

For example, often landscaping companies will create another income stream in their off season (wintertime) by attaching a plow to their trucks and offer snow plowing services. Or accountants whose bread and butter comes during tax season, add tax planning or bookkeeping services to their service mix to help even out the slow times.

Your highs and lows may not be as obvious, but if you see a pattern, is there some other product or service you could offer that would sell well during your lean time?

Aim to build several sources of income to keep the money coming in build stability throughout the year.

How to handle the short-term issues and solve your cash flow problems for the long term

When in the midst of a cash crunch, what you need more than anything is more cash quickly. That can take the form of a boost in sales, or it can mean collecting the money already owed to you.

One the easiest ways to solve a cash flow pinch is to run a special promotion to pull in some quick sales. More short-term sales may not solve the real problem, but it will get you to a place where you can breathe and focus in rationally to identify what’s really going on in your business.

To solve recurring cash crunch woes, you can’t just live in the moment. You need to identify what has changed or is changing. You also need to come up with a strategy to protect yourself for the long term.

Here’s my three-phase approach for getting into action so you can conquer the cash flow monster before it gets out of hand:

1. Maximize the money coming into your business from as many different sources as possible, creating systems and policies that keep the cash streams flowing consistently and simultaneously.
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2. Evaluate what it costs to run your business and how much it costs to sell your products / services. Identify your most profitable items, and dump any that do not have a reasonable margin. You will also look at your overhead and identify any areas where cash is needlessly leaking out of the business (Hint: To do this right, you will want to review both your P&L Report and your Balance Sheet over the period of a year)
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3. Prepare a budget and a forecast for at least the next 3 months, and track your progress. If your business is seasonal, you will need to build into your budget a cushion fund that you will contribute to in the busy season, and draw upon in the slow season.

By going through these basic steps, your business will become much stronger. You will be able to recognize and navigate changes that affect your cash flow. You can protect yourself and ward off cash crunch crises before they ever hit.

Would you like specific strategies and step-by-step action plans to pull in more cash FAST and turn your business into a solid cash flow machine? Then be sure to check out my new Cash Flow Mastery Course.

If you are using any version of QuickBooks 2007 (or older), you need to pay attention to this.

Effective May 31, 2010, Intuit (the makers of QuickBooks financial software) will discontinue live telephone support and add-on services for QuickBooks 2007 software (all versions).

Services that will be discontinued:

Assisted Payroll
Basic Payroll
Enhanced Payroll
Standard Payroll
Employee Organizer
Merchant Service
Billing Solution (formerly QuickBooks Online Billing)
QuickBooks Email
Bill Pay
Online Banking
Terminal Download
Technical Support Plans and Services

This is not really surprising news, since according to Intuit’s official Discontinuation Program, they only support “the most current version of QuickBooks, plus the prior two versions.” So that means after May 31st, QuickBooks 2010, as well as all 2009 and 2008 versions, are the only years they will continue to support.

Do I HAVE to upgrade?

That depends on how you use the software.

If you are currently using an older version of QuickBooks and do not need any technical support or add-on services, you can continue to use the software as you have in the past. It will keep working just fine.

However, if you need to use add-on programs and support for services such as payroll or merchant services,  you will need to install and register a supported version of the QuickBooks software by May 31, 2010.

But what if I don’t know which version of QuickBooks I’ve got?

That’s easy. If you don’t see which version you have on the “splash” screen when you are opening QuickBooks, then from within the program simply press Ctrl+1 (from the keyboard, not the number pad) and you will get all the information about your current QuickBooks program, including which version you’re using.

An important reason to upgrade if you’re still using QuickBooks 2007 (or older) is because even though Intuit promises to help you out if you lose your keycodes or have licensing issues, their terms and conditions say they will do so only “if that data is available.” In other words, there’s no guarantee they can help you if you are still using an old unsupported version, and you lose your password, have data recovery issues, or need a replacement software CD.

This is significant.

If you are locked out of your data file because you’ve lost your administrator’s password, or you can’t get into your program because of a registration issue, you’re dead. Not being able to access your financial records could literally cripple your business.

But if you are determined to stick with an outdated version of QuickBooks and you do happen to lose your password, you can use the Automated Password Reset Tool available for free on the QuickBooks website. But of course, there’s no guarantees there either. You are still on your own.

If, however, you are ready to give in and upgrade, here are my best suggestions.

Your Upgrade Options

You can, of course, upgrade directly through the Quickbooks website and get a $40 discount (as of this writing, the upgrade price is $159.95)

But you quite likely can get a better price by shopping around a bit. Generally you’ll find QuickBooks at all the major office supply stores locally and online. Amazon is currently selling QuickBooks Pro 2010 for $123.

Some other places you could check out are:

www.staples.com
www.officedepot.com
www.officemax.com
www.bestbuy.com
www.costco.com
www.samsclub.com

And if you are a real bargain hunter, you might be able to find a legal copy of a supported version (QuickBooks 2008 or 2009) on eBay. But realize that you’ll be in the same pinch in another year or two.

So my best suggestion is to just bite the bullet and upgrade to 2010 and be done with it (for three years anyway). There are some great new, truly helpful features you’ve been missing out on in the years you’ve fallen behind.

Getting Up To Date Using QuickBooks

For quick and free mini-lessons in QuickBooks, make sure you get in on my QB QuickTips video series.

And if QuickBooks has always been a struggle for you, why not go all out and get some proper training on using the program more easily and efficiently? I’ll teach you all the must-know functions in QuickBooks in my QuickBooks Core Training course. (The next class starts this coming Monday, May 24th.)

If you are upgrading from QuickBooks 2005 or older, training is especially recommended for you, since QuickBooks is practically a whole new program since that far back. it won’t be an easy transition without some assistance.

We are already one-third of the way through the year. Have your revenue numbers been improving?

I came across some revealing stats recently that are quite eye-opening about what’s really going on with A LOT of small businesses. I made a quick video to show what the numbers are really telling us about what we need to be doing to turn it all around.

Click above to start video

This is important stuff for so many entrepreneurs. If you know someone who could benefit from this new information, by all means, go ahead and let them know about this video. They’ll appreciate it, and so will I!

www.CashFlowMasteryCourse.com

As an entrepreneur, what does this “new economy” mean for you and your business?

Do you have a plan? How are you doing so far with this year’s goals?

If you’re still trying to navigate in the right direction, that’s great! Even if the revenue numbers aren’t quite where you’d like them to be (yet), here’s a short video that I think you’ll enjoy. It helps to put things in the right perspective…

While this is definitely one of my favorite “feel good” videos, there are some key lessons here:

1. The greatest innovation and success happens when our back is against the wall and we are forced to find new ways for doing things.  And entrepreneurs are usually the ones blazing the trails to success

2. There are opportunities to seize (lots of them) by focusing on the positive vision of what your business could be. And the rewards belong to the thinkers and the doers (that’s YOU!) and not those with privilege or resources.

The new economy really means it’s our time to shine.

So what could you do TODAY to move one step closer to your vision for yourself and your business?