"Do not go where the
path may lead, go
instead where there
is no path and
leave a trail."
-Ralph
Waldo Emerson
The
Harrisburg Regional
Chamber &
CREDC/EDS Seminar
Series is back!
(for Women and
Minority Owned
Businesses)
This seminar
is
FREE-
Bonding, Bidding and Winning
in Government Contracting
Friday May 16
So what are you waiting
for?
Click
here to
fill out your
registration form!
Here's Your Chance!
Write your own success
story, or share your
business expertise!
Click
here to
submit your article today!
Be sure to check out the
extra articles about
human resource solutions,
better air quality in the
workplace, and the Winter
2008 Rural
Research Report on the right
under "Smart Woman at Work"
To download a printer
friendly version of this
month's entire newsletter,
click here.
|
|
Kutztown SBDC Paints International
Possibilities for Colorfin,
LLC
|
Colorfin
LLC, an art supply manufacturer in
Kutztown, PA, has opened to artists a
new avenue of pastels. Co-founders Ladd
Forsline and Bernadette Ward have
manipulated the pastel formula,
resulting in a low-dust, erasable,
softer pastel.
With help from KU SBDC consultants, Alex
Whan and Martin Brill, Colorfin
has transformed its novel product into a
booming international business. "Brill
and Whan pointed us in the direction we
needed to go," says Ward.
To learn more about the international
success of Colorfin,
and how the KU SBDC helped them reach
their goals, click
here.
|
 Age-Weighting
Makes Age an Advantage for Business
Owners Planning for Financial
Success
By
Michael
Fischer,
CLU, ChFC
For many
small business owners, age has its
advantages. Small business owners are
often challenged when it comes to
designing a retirement plan that meets
their needs, while also meeting the
requirements of a "qualified" retirement
plan.
Qualified plans have significant federal
tax benefits, but to be qualified, a
plan has to pass "nondiscrimination"
tests designed to show the plan provides
the same benefits for rank-and-file
employees as it provides for key
employees, including the business owner
or owners.
To read more about how to draft your
financial future through retirement,
click
here.
|
| |
|
Great Customer Service:
It's Really Not that Hard
|
|
In a previous article I wrote about my
trials and tribulations with a phone
company, an illustration of customer service
gone haywire, provided by a company culture,
that in my estimation, propagates bad
customer service through a myriad of
inconveniences.
Not so secret point: People/service first
organizations almost always succeed. Of
course they have to build in a sizable
enough margin to be profitable, but when
they concentrate on people and service they
bullied loyalty and profitability (even if
they're more expensive than the
competition).
Click
here to read more about Dan's personal
encounters with good and not so good
customer service, and the importance of
keeping your priorities in check-the
customer comes first.
|
|
BlackTricks- Buyers Beware!
By
Lynn VanDyke
Internet Marketing Consultant
|
Search engine rankings have long been
the "Holy Grail" of Internet marketers.
The endless possibilities of finding the
best way to beat the search engines
blossomed into an entire industry called
Black Hat marketing.
Black Hat marketing refers to the
attempts to rank highly at the engines
using illegal or questionable tactics.
Black Hat marketers have one main job-
figure out how to rank number one at
Google, Yahoo and MSN using any tactics
possible. They'll try just about
anything and to be honest...for a bit of
time they ruled the Internet.
Click
here to read more and learn
how to avoid being the rabbit
pulled out of the Black Hat.
What to Leave
Behind:
Which Assets Will Benefit Heirs
Most?
By Kathi Kuzo,
Financial
Representative
As you get closer to retirement,
you'll need to develop a
strategy for spending your
investments in an order that
will prolong tax-advantages and
factor in other market-specific
events that may affect your nest
egg.
Read more about how to stretch your
finances in retirement for you and
your loved ones by clicking
here.
|
|
| |
|
|
SBDC News
For more information about any of
the following news items, click on
the news link below
-14th Annual SBDC Client Expo
The 2008 SBDC
Client Expo,
"The Right Direction," will be held on
May 13, 2008
-New Learning Opportunities:
*The Pitch- Business
planning Webinar based on one of the
bestselling books for small
business, "The Art of the Smart."
-The KU SBDC Recently
updated its website, and has been
converted into a portal for electronic
learning. Now the site is easier to
use, with a new Google-based search
engine, and more direct links so you get
the help your business needs, faster!
Check out the new portal for learning
here!
-Click this
news link to read more
about the news items above!
Smart Women at Work
Are You Sabotaging Your Success?
by Annmarie Kelly
This month, Annmarie
challenges you to change
your thinking, which may
change your bottom line.
Learn common destructive
patterns and how to stop
them by clicking
here.
TriCore Equals Human
Resource Solutions
By Eric Coleman
TriCore
Regional Director
-Looking for a more cost
effective and efficient way
to support your human
resources?
TriCore Integrated Employer
Solutions has your answers
including innovative
employee benefit insurance,
new hires, pay roll, pay
roll taxes and more!
Click
here to read more about
TriCore and what they can do
for your human resources.
-How many
hours a day do you spend in
the same building? Do you
know how clean
the air is in that
building? Environmental and
Engineering Solutions, Inc.
offers 6 Ways to Improve
Your Indoor Air Quality!
Click
here to find out how!
Rural Research Report is
now available!
- Public Libraries and
Community Economic
Development: Partnering for
Success. Click
here to read the full
report!
|
|
|
