Category: Business News

If you work in almost any retail or service-based field, you have likely heard about trade shows and the growth that they can bring to businesses. However, you may not know what their purpose is or how they can help you reach more clients in your given industry. However, the importance of trade shows, especially to small businesses, cannot be understated. They benefit you both from the ability to gain new customers and from the ability to make connections within the industry.

In fact, the trade show industry is a booming market, spawning offshoots and vendors, such as trade show exhibit rentals, trade show marketing support systems, even trade show models. It is one of the biggest business marketing service industries. So what goes into a trade show and what is its purpose?

A trade show is effectively any large show where multiple companies come together to show what they can do and what they sell. Each company is given a booth that they can put anything they want in, allowing them to demonstrate their product or services. Most trade shows allow you to use things like televisions, live demonstrations, internet connected computers, and even photography booths. The booth is the first place that customers will see each company and is where they will be able to form their first impressions of any company that they haven’t seen before.

Most of the time shows will be themed around either a single product or a single industry. This can be anything from computer software to a much broader theme such as home improvement or even entire industries such as shipping, food and drink, or bridal. Most of the time these shows focus on the actual trades themselves, and less on the finished product. Things like manufacturing processes, types of materials that are being used, industry standards for certain installations, and even new styles for home improvement can be seen.

On the other side, companies who have something to offer to people within these trades, such as new materials, tools that are intended to speed up certain processes, upgrade options that can be customized for different companies, and even shipping options that will save them money can also be represented. Sometimes these options are a bit more physical product oriented, meaning that they will give away samples to people who visit their booths or that they will be selling their full-sized product at the show. These companies are usually looking to not only sell individual units or packages, but to make contact with companies that need long term relationships or whole company upgrades.

If you haven’t guessed by now, trade shows tend to be places where contracts are made, large amounts of money changes hands, and where enterprising companies can find enough work to keep themselves busy for a year or more. They are also places where companies can find out information about each other and see how the standards are changing within their given industry. It isn’t uncommon for one company to come and find out that their competition is offering something new that makes them change their entire business plan. However, it is just as common for companies to come together and discuss options that they would like to see, motivating others within the industry to make changes.

Finally, small companies will often find an audience for their innovative new products at these shows. Because larger companies are usually in attendance, smaller companies can often find people who can either invest in their company or give them feedback on what they have come up with. This is invaluable and will often provide better results than paid focus groups.

Overall, the purpose of trade shows is to make connections within the industry and to ensure that companies are keeping up with each other. A secondary purpose is to introduce the wares and services of companies to new customers in a professional environment.

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This article is sponsored by Creative Tent International

To construct any type of building is a major investment and therefore it is important to understand the costs when comparing one item or material against another. This article will explain a few of the differences between choosing a fabric structure or roof as opposed to a metal structure or roof. Hopefully, the information will help you to make a wiser decision when choosing the best system for your building.

There appear to be many excellent benefits when choosing fabric structures over  traditional metal roof buildings. For example, a metal roof or building will require a lot of additional materials to make it airtight. Having an airtight building will reduce heat and air loss. A fabric cover, on the other hand, has excellent non-conductive properties that will reduce the transmission of cold and heat. This means that the building will feel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Another benefit to a fabric structure is that it will allow the building to receive natural daylight. This will create a better working environment while at the same time reducing lighting costs. With the absence of the daytime sunlight a structure will need to have both nighttime and daytime lighting. Therefore, a builder/owner should consider both the operational and installation costs for all of the building’s lighting requirements.

A metal roof on a building will need enough lumens so as to light the working area sufficiently. This will have to be done during both the day and night. This means that this type of building structure will have a constant electrical consumption. A fabric roof will normally require only 1/3 of the electrical costs for lighting. A fabric roof has a bright white underside which will disperse and reflect artificial lighting evenly. The fabric roof will not need to be artificially lit during the day.

A fabric roof or structure features a high roof design. A high roof design provides the interior with a large volume of airspace. If the building is being used for agricultural purposes then the benefit will be that the moist, warm air will be drawn up and away from machinery, equipment, commodities, or livestock. Heating/cooling and ventilation systems will be easy to install and manage.

A fabric structure is pre-engineered and manufactured and easily erected within a few days or weeks. A metal structure can take a few months to construct. This will allow a company or operation to quickly move into a building. There are additional cost savings when setting up a fabric structure. A metal structure will often be labor-intensive and a more costly type of construction process.

A metal structure built on a plot of land is primarily a permanent structure. A fabric structure has the advantage of being temporary or portable. If the owner/company decides to move to a different location it will be easy to disassemble a fabric structure. There are situations where a metal structure may be more appropriate but in many cases a fabric structure is a better choice.

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Big companies have an unending pipeline of work. They may have to hammer out quarterly earnings statements, which need to keep shareholders happy enough to buy more shares (invest) in the company. Beyond sales, it keeps a company afloat. In these cases, the Chief Financial Officer is at the helm of the financial future of the ship.

They are the brains behind the company, and can steer the company from slamming into a dangerous iceberg, downing the company, to instead finding smooth sailing and prosperity. That’s a poetic way of saying the Chief Financial Officer is an important member of the team. The people below them are the “doers”, while a CFO works with the executive team to prioritize what will make the company continue to grow and thrive into the future. They also known when to abandon projects and products or services that were not working out so well.

CFOs Are Necessary But Expensive

The issue is that many companies assume they have to have executives fully on board as permanent and full-time employees. Yet, there’s really no reason to limit the company, or its earnings potential by forking over all that money for someone who may be more effective and efficient a few hours per month.

Hiring a part time CFO is how many smaller companies who desperately rely on the financial brains of a CFO can afford one. After all, without a solid plan and well-researched, solid executive decision-making, companies end up wasting their venture capital instead of investing wisely in sales and marketing to make a profit.

Advantages Of Part-Time Virtual CFOs

The drawback of having a full-time CFO is not only that they are costly, but then the company might be forced to pay for relocation, and other big-ticket benefits that a salesperson or a project manager might not receive.

Instead, the advantage to turning to CFOs who offer up their services as a true service, meant to assist many companies in need, is that they may be inherently more affordable. It’s not that they are slashing the cost of their services, but instead dividing up their services to many different companies.

In that manner, they continue to challenge themselves, while doing the greatest good. Meanwhile, because they are aiming to serve more companies in more industries, they are more efficient if they are not in the office.

These days, technology is lean, mean, efficient, and fast. It means virtual workplaces are an everyday reality, where people can share work on the cloud, working only as much as is necessary for any one client. They can share work spaces virtually, collaborating without being side-by-side.

It is also a lot more efficient, as even workplace studies have estimated that most people top off at about 4 hours of good, solid work efforts per day. The virtual CFO also is aware of this, and that makes for a win-win-win for a company. Here’s how.

Because the CFO is working the same as the people below them, in management and the service portion of companies, they are aware of efficiency. They have realistic expectations of workers’ efforts and effectiveness. This means that a company can save money by hiring a part-time virtual CFO in more ways than one.

The CFO will probably inherently be something of a built-in efficiency expert and be able to advise on how to make the most of workers. In other words, the majority of the company may actually be more effective as part-timers who are virtual. This way the company saves a lot of money on overhead, instead keeping the focus on making money and honoring their employees’ natural effectiveness.

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The modern economy makes it imperative that most people either find tremendous success in their career or get creative in making money if they are going to truly enjoy financial abundance and security. Many consecutive years of job growth have swelled the ranks of the employed, but high-paying jobs and corporate ladders just aren’t as copious as they once were. If you’re thinking the Internet is a great way to create a business or two to make more money than you make already working for someone else, you’re right.

An online traffic school is a great idea for an initial online business, since there will always be demand. People get traffic infractions in good times and bad, but are you sure about how to start an online traffic school?If not, ask yourself the following 6 questions to find answers:

1) Does my state or community even allow online traffic school? Many states and communities allow traffic schools to operate as online courses through a website, but not all do. If you live in a state that does forbid it, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out of luck, as there’s nothing stopping you from remotely opening one up that serves another state or community that does allow them.

2) What are the regulations regarding content? Each state’s Department of Transportation is going to be your source of information regarding the technical components and required subject matter your online traffic school must feature or comply with to be legitimate.

3) Are my fees and prices fixed? In some states and communities, you can charge whatever you like, but in others, there might be established minimums. In stringent states, online traffic schools are set in what they can charge, much like how fees for car inspections are set. Depending on how things are set up where you are, your profit margin might be decided by how cheaply and efficiently you can run your website, and you might only distinguish yourself from competitors through creative things like highlight pass/fail rates.

4) How much does advertising cost? Even though your most likely place to find prospective clients is a courthouse where people pay their tickets, you can’t exactly stand in the lobby and hand out fliers. Even if you did, you’d miss all the ones that just try and handle things online completely. Given the online nature of this, search engine optimization campaigns are your best bet, perhaps with some local traditional advertising.

5) How much can passing your course possibly save people? The biggest reason why someone wants to go to online traffic school is to avoid some kind of penalty. They might be trying to keep their license, reduce a ticket or fine, eliminate it, and/or save themselves a rate hike on their insurance. Knowing how much money they might save makes it easier to present your online traffic school as a value savings.

6) What would your overhead be like? While online businesses tend to be pretty profitable due to low overhead, you still have it, and you still need to make sure that you are making more than you have going out. You have to pay for your domain name every few years and a Web host monthly. You’ll also have ongoing payroll and marketing costs to consider, as well as those the either administer the courses or create the content.

Now that you know 6 questions to ask about starting an online traffic school, your hunt for answers will tell you whether or not this business venture is potentially profitable for you, much less possible.

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Post sponsored by MonkeyMoney.com.au

We have been going through an interesting time both politically and economically over the last few months. Even experts can’t really agree whether interest rates are going to go up or down. There is a small majority of analysts who think that mortgage rates are likely to rise, but many also think they are likely to remain the same. The only thing that the experts don’t seem to expect to see happen is for rates to fall.

That seems like a fair assessment, given that in many parts of the world, home loan interest rates are so low right now, not just in the US. We’ve just come out of a recession, and low rates are good to stimulate the economy and encourage people to borrow. Increasing rates at this time might put a dampener on the ongoing recovery, but decreasing them would achieve very little.

Why should you care what direction rates go? Well, if you were looking to take out a home loan at any time in the near future, you would want to make sure that you got a good deal, and you might be thinking about whether to get a fixed rate mortgage, or whether to gamble on a variable rate offer.

Fixed rate deals tend to be slightly higher than variable at the time that you sign on to them, but you know that you will have that rate locked in for a certain period of time. If you’re in the camp that believes that rates are likely to go up (which seems to be a common viewpoint), then you should look at getting a fixed rate mortgage. If you’re in the camp that believes rates aren’t going to change, or that they’re going to fall and stay low, then a variable rate is a good option for you.

It’s always a gamble, when you take out a mortgage. You don’t know whether rates are going to go up or down – no-one does. But, given the recent presidential election, and the Brexit vote, we’re entering a period of global uncertainty. England might seem like it’s fairly disconnected from us, but if England leaves Europe, other European states will be watching to see how it fairs. Any major changes to the European economic system will have a knock-on effect on the global economy.

The changeover between Obama and Trump will also have an effect on our local businesses, and that’s going to be something that the Fed will be watching closely. The Fed decides base interest rates. Immigration (something that Trump has been vocal about) affects demand for homes. Both of those things have an impact on home loan interest rates. A strong housing market and low interest borrowing would be an ideal situation for most of us.

It wouldn’t make sense to make an investing decision based on what you read online. If you’re thinking of taking out a mortgage it is very important that you seek professional advice. Compare quotes from several home loan providers, and make sure that you understand the terms fully. Don’t borrow unless you know what you are getting into and you are fully confident that you can pay the loan back. Only borrow what you need, on terms that are fair to you, and remember that if you do not keep up repayments on a loan that is secured on your home, you could lose the property. A good financial advisor will discuss your needs with you, and will be able to tell you the best course of action depending on your financial situation.

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In the “old” days when you were searching for consumer or personal information, it meant spending tedious hours digging through various books. Phone books, court records, newspapers and other documents were your only source for information in addition to interviews. t could take weeks, months, even years sometimes to find the “lost” person or find out information about someone.

Then along came the Internet and all this changed overnight. Now just type a name into a search engine and information pops up; so the search begins. Although there are some people who do not own or use computers, their name will still pop up at times. These people are a minority, most people are all over the Internet. They have emails, pay bills online, communicate through Facebook, Twitter, and have blogs. This gives any private investigator access to your digital footprint and access to information. Many people can also be found on YouTube, so not only do you get information, you also get video.

All of this social activity on the Internet creates less privacy. This may be good for an investigator but it is not good for one’s personal information. People now let the world know where they are going, how long they will be away, and they check in at various locations, and even give details of what they are doing or eating. On Facebook pages you can find birth dates, telephone numbers, and pictures – your life is now an open book. Numerous people even post pictures of their families and associates – welcome to the world of the Internet.

This Internet access is also appearing in legal documents. Many government agencies have databases available for searching. Through the Secretary of State’s office you can search for a business and find out location, officers and maybe much more. Many assessor offices have properties in a database giving a great deal of information. This information is considered public record and most is available free of charge.

Tim Wilson, an investigator in Houston, notes that what would take investigators weeks or months, now may take hours or less. But what has brought information to the forefront has also brought hindrances.

There are many new laws and regulations regarding who can see what information. Twenty or thirty years ago, you may have been able to get information just because you were curious or had contacts in various departments.

Today you have to have a person’s permission to get access to much of their information. Even though a database may be available, you may not have access to it. While anyone can see what a person posts to the various Internet places, most personal and financial information is unavailable. Most times it is up to an individual to decide who will be able to see what information.

In the past finding information on a person was fairly easy since most people never ventured far from their birthplace. Today, the younger generation is not as stable as their parents and grandparents. They change jobs often, move from apartment to apartment and city to city. The information may be available, it just may take a little longer to gather all of it. The footprint is available, but the road may be long and curvy.

When the Internet and databases were first beginning, no one thought much about what was being put out to the world. Now people have an option to opt out of sharing information and many are doing so.

Given the privacy laws, opting out availability, and database restrictions, private investigators are having difficulty finding some information. Much of this information may never be located.

To add to this, states and other entities now realize their databases may be a cash cow. What was once free or at minimal cost, now the cost has increased substantially. Cash strapped government agencies are using these databases as a supplement to budgets. The information is still public record and you can go to the courthouse and search for it, but if you want it easily it may cost.

What all of this means for a business is that they must stay current on the advances in technology. Now the average business owner have internet search skills to find trends in the market, which may show up in social media and various other places. By doing some good detective and sleuth work, businesses can take advantage of the abundance of information online, without having to be a private investigator.

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