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What Will Happen to Your Business?

November 1, 2016 by Cathy Stucker

what-will-happen

This is not a cheery subject, but it is an important one. A few things recently got me thinking about what happens to a business, including intellectual property, domain names and other business assets, when the owner dies.

After the musician Prince passed away, I was surprised to learn two things. One, he was directly involved in negotiating terms regarding licensing any of his work. The Wall Street Journal reported that Prince himself negotiated with streaming services and others about how his music would be made available because he wanted to have complete control over how his work was used.

That made the second revelation even more amazing: Prince apparently died without a will. He did not have a spouse or surviving children. Prince did have a sister and at least four surviving half-siblings. Without a will, there could be a years-long court battle over control of the estate. Expect long-lost relatives to come out of the woodwork to get what they believe to be their rightful share of the estate.

Prince’s music is part of that estate. It could be awarded to one person or ownership could be shared among many. Do you think that five or more people will agree on exactly what should be done with his song catalog? Or that they will all want to do things the way Prince would have? Not bloody likely. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Running Your Business Tagged With: business planning

Shaking Your Money Tree

July 5, 2015 by Cathy Stucker

Does your business have a money tree you can shake when a little extra cash is needed? Every business should have one!

What I mean by money tree is something you can do quickly to generate revenue when you need it. Where can you find one? Not at your local garden store. Just as in a forest, there are many species of money trees, so you need to find one that is right for you. Here are a few common varieties:

The Sale Tree brings in cash by making a discount offer to customers. Buy before June 30th, and you get a lower price. This creates a sense of urgency for customers to buy now in order to save money and can create a new flow of sales for you.

The Bonus Tree can work like the Sale, but instead of a discount, customers get a free item with purchase. Buy one, get one free, for example, or buy this item and get a free accessory.

Generate cash with the New Product Tree by introducing a new product. Customers love new things, so announce it with a flourish.  You might cross the New Product tree with the Sale or Bonus tree to get a hybrid with extra appeal.

Shake the Personal Touch Tree by contacting current or former customers and reminding them it may be time to do business with you again. Perhaps the supplies they bought from you a few months ago are running low, or it’s time for a follow-up service.

The Referral Tree should be in bloom all the time, but you can get better results when you tend it. Do a mailing or phone campaign to ask current customers to refer their friends and colleagues. You may be able to generate lots of sales quickly this way.

The Cold Call Tree can be hard to shake, but the results can be worthwhile.

One of my favorites is the Publicity Tree. It’s an odd one, in that you never know when it is going to bloom, or what it will look like when it does; however, the results are often magnificent. Provide a jumpstart in its growth by regularly sending press releases and other materials to the media.

Decide which money tree is right for your business, then nurture it and keep it growing. And, every once in a while, shake the heck out of it and watch the dollars come floating down!

As the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker can help you attract customers and make yourself famous. Get more free tips when you subscribe to Cathy’s newsletter at http://www.IdeaLady.com/.

Filed Under: Creative Ideas, Running Your Business

Just Hang Up on These Telephone Scams

August 5, 2014 by Cathy Stucker

Most of us have software installed to protect us from hackers, viruses, malware and other dangers. However, often the weakest link in any security system is…us. Scammers know that it doesn’t take much to get people to give out information, click on harmful links and do other things that your anti-virus software can not protect you from.

A good rule to follow is that when you receive an email or telephone call asking you for personal information, or saying that you need to do something to update your information or reactivate your account, don’t do it. Instead, contact the company using a web address, email address or telephone number you know to be legitimate.

When I am in my office, I usually answer my phone as using an automated telephone system often isn’t as useful as personally talking to the customer. Sometimes the calls are a customer, but sometimes it is a scammer. I thought it would be a good idea to share two recent scams with you so that you can avoid them. Both of these have been around for a while, but they are still claiming victims.

Telephone Phishing Scams

You may be familiar with online phishing scams. That is where the scammer sends an email that appears to be from PayPal, your bank or credit card company, Amazon.com or another trusted company. They give some excuse for why you need to log in to your account and provide a link to click. The problem is that the link doesn’t go where you think it does. Instead, it takes you to a site set up by the scammer to capture your login, password and other personal data.

Phishing can also take place over the telephone. The other day I got a call attempting to get information about my merchant account (the account I use to take credit card payments). The caller ID said the call was “Out of Area” and gave the originating phone number as 1-000-000-0000. That is a common display for Skype calls, so I assumed it was a friend or customer calling via Skype.

When I answered, I heard an automated voice saying that the call was from First Data, and that my merchant account had been disabled. Well, that might have caused me to be concerned except that I don’t have a merchant account with First Data. I decided to play along, though, and see what they were up to. The recording asked me to enter my merchant account number and terminal ID number. I entered 000 for each and waited to see what would happen. The recording thanked me and said that my account was now reactivated.

Why did the scammers call me, when I don’t even have an account with First Data? They have no idea who does and does not have accounts with the companies they impersonate. Because phishing scams target customers of large companies, they know that a significant number of the people they target will have accounts. And a significant number of those people (often as many as 25%) will fall for the scam.

What would I have done if I had a merchant account with First Data and received a call like this (or a similar email)? My first step would be to pull a recent statement from them and find the customer service number. Customer service could tell me if there was a problem with my account and how to resolve it. Never use a phone number, email address or URL that comes in a suspicious email or phone call—they usually lead right to the scammer. If you call a scammer to ask if they are legitimate or if they are scamming you, what do you think they will say? (Hint: Scammers lie.)

“Microsoft Technical Support Center”? Really?

Actually, though, I did once get a scammer to acknowledge that he was trying to scam me. At least once or twice a week, I get a call from “Microsoft Technical Support” or some similar thing. Caller ID displays various cities and phone numbers, but the calls all clearly come from a call center in India.

The caller says that Microsoft has determined that there is a virus on my computer and they are going to help me fix it. Gosh, that is nice of them, isn’t it? If I am busy or cranky, I just hang up on them, sometimes after spewing a bit of profanity. However, if I am in a playful mood, I will go along for a while.

I thank them for their help and ask what I have to do to fix my computer. They tell me to go to the computer and turn it on, then proceed to walk me through a series of steps which, of course, I do not actually do. (Do them and the scammer gets control of your computer or gets you to download some nasty malware onto your machine.)

After a short time, I tire of the game and hang up on them. One day, though, I was having fun so I stayed on the line for longer than usual. I asked several questions and finally asked how many people fall for this scam. The scammer paused for a second, then said, “One, two, three…sixteen,” as he counted his successes. Now, he may have been lying to me about the number of victims, but I have no doubt that he got several people to do what he told them to do and infected their computers.

The luckiest victims of this scam just lose some money by paying for worthless “anti-virus software.” However, more often, they load malware onto their computer that logs their keystrokes or turns their computer into a bot that the scammers can use in all kinds of nefarious ways. Oh, and when you pay for this service, you have just given your credit card number to a scammer. Gee, what could go wrong there?

Avoid the Scams

The bottom line is that whenever someone calls or emails to tell you that there is a problem with your computer or an account of some kind, assume they are lying. Check it out by finding the contact information for the real company (e.g., bank, credit card processor, etc.) or by doing a Google search on what they told you. Never give personal information (such as login Ids, passwords, credit cards numbers or other data) to anyone who calls you. Don’t follow links to unknown websites and enter personal information. And never trust that a scammer is telling you the truth.

Filed Under: Running Your Business Tagged With: online scams, scams, telephone scams

Reboot Your Business

April 1, 2014 by Cathy Stucker

Do you feel that your business doesn’t live up to its fullest potential? Do you miss the passion and drive that you used to feel when your business was new? Do you often ask yourself why you are in business in the first place? Does it sometimes feel you could be doing something else more worthwhile with your time? If you answered yes to any of the above, maybe it is time to reboot your business. Your business might need to be reset so you can square your ideals, dreams, hopes, and aspirations with your business’s results, systems, and processes. Otherwise, you might feel your business drifting downwards.

Stop settling for mediocrity. Follow the steps below to reboot and re-energize your business.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Running Your Business

Improve Your Leadership Skills

January 21, 2014 by Cathy Stucker

leadership-skillsWhile you work on building your business by acquiring knowledge in your field, technical expertise, speaking skills and other business acumen, don’t overlook a trait you need to become truly successful.

The most successful people in every industry are leaders. They are the ones that others look up to, desire to learn from and aspire to be.

Leaders aren’t born – they’re created. You have to make yourself a leader in your niche or someone else will blow right past you and gain the attention of your audience.

Here are some steps you can take to improve your leadership skills.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Running Your Business Tagged With: business skills, leadership, leadership skills

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