Monthly Archives: April 2009

Author : Max Johnson

Saving energy at your club in all areas including the dining room, golf operations and the executive offices is becoming a bigger deal as ever before for multiple reasons Saving energy also equates to saving money and in these times every single penny counts Your membership is currently more aware of what it means to be “green” than ever before The “green” issue can be a useful marketing tool if you are onboard or a PR nightmare if you believe it is a fad

With fuel prices being as volatile as ever before in US history and the dollar losing ground to the Euro, every little bit that can be saved will help all of us in the future and help you and your bottom line right now

Believe it or not, there are actually many easy ways to cut your energy usage, without having to make unwanted sacrifices By making some small changes you will be able to reduce your energy consumption and thus reduce your energy bill by saving energy

Saving Energy Tips For Your Country Club, Golf Course or Resort

1 Set your thermostat comfortably low in the winter and comfortably high in the summer Install a programmable thermostat that is compatible with your heating and cooling system

2 Use compact fluorescent light bulbs to light your facility They use a lot less energy than incandescent light bulbs

3 Turn off your computer and its monitor when they aren’t being used If you feel the need to keep your computer on when you aren’t using it, at least switch the monitor off It will keep wasting energy even when in standby

4 Plug computers, printers and fax machines into power strips When you are not using the equipment turn the power strips off Equipment in standby mode still consumes energy

5 Clean your commercial refrigerator or commercial freezer on a regular basis In addition, check all connections and hoses so there are no leaks

6 Keep your club’s vehicles in good working order Keep maintenance records on all of the vehicles including vans, buses, golf carts and the like Change filters regularly, and ensure the motorized engines are running smoothly A vehicle which is maintained properly will consume less fuel Regularly check the battery chargers as well as the amount of water in the batteries for your electric golf carts or other electric vehicles

7 Keep regularly scheduled replacement of filters for the buildings heating and air conditioning systems With dirty filters the unit must work harder and will not be saving energy for you

8 Depending on the time of year, program the heating or cooling system as needed to keep comfortable temperatures for your members and staff The use of shades and/or curtains can be helpful in saving energy

9 Insist and inspect that your staff is washing only full loads of dishes and/or laundry Washing a half-load will still use the same amount of water and energy as a full load

10 Start a recycling program at your country club, golf course or resort This is an easy thing to do that does not cost much upfront money and it can give your staff a cause to come together

Hopefully you will implement all ten of these strategies as you are saving energy in the “green” environment we currently live

Max Johnson of VGS Golf Read more about Save Energy. Shop for Beverage Air Restaurant Equipment.

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Author : Nick Messe

The main reason for filing personal bankruptcy is that your debt obligations, over time, have grown to be more than you can afford under any circumstances at that point in time Some of the primary things that may contribute to a persons need to file for personal bankruptcy protection are loss of a job, diminished income due to a troubled stock market, excessive credit card bills, divorce, sickness or an extended hospital stay, and finally an accident or deteriorating health

If you determine that personal bankruptcy is the route you need to go, then you should educate yourself about the federal bankruptcy laws Personal bankruptcy is obviously a complex transaction and as such it is a good idea to seek the advice of seasoned Chicago bankruptcy attorneys It is important to keep in mind; most reputable Chicago bankruptcy attorneys will offer a free consultation Avoid using a firm that looks for an up front fee from you to evaluate your case

Your Chicago bankruptcy attorneys will stay by your side to guide you through the entire personal bankruptcy procedure and assess, prepare and file your case During the creditors meeting your attorney will handle any issues that may arise In most Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy filings, the debtor has no assets All of the assets of the debtor are either exempt property or are subject to the liens of secured creditors In “no asset” personal bankruptcy cases, there is no distribution to the unsecured creditors Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy was created for someone who has a home or car they wish to keep A payment plan is arranged that allows the filer to retain those assets

Once your personal bankruptcy case has been filed, all of your creditors will be notified and a court issue will stop wage garnishing, creditor harassment, and foreclosures This is often the first time you can breathe a sigh of relief as the phone stops ringing and you can get back on track with your life Filing for personal bankruptcy is a serious event But by carefully choosing your personal bankruptcy attorney you can expect to save money, save your sanity and return to a worry-free way of life

There are many things to consider before filing for personal bankruptcy Your debt may seem overwhelming, but with the assistance of Chicago bankruptcy attorneys, you can file for personal bankruptcy and start over again with a fresh slate

When faced with the possibility of bankruptcy, Chicago Bankruptcy Attorneys can help get your financial situation back under control.

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Author : Clara Ken

Long term mortgage plans afford you the opportunity to save a little extra cash Long term mortgage loans often have lower interest rates and therefore free you to channel extra savings into other investment options Your income and your overall responsibilities are often used as determinants for arriving at the amount you will use as monthly payments

You can apply for mortgage by going to the office of the intended lenders A way to apply for mortgage that is fast and stresses less is online More and more mortgage companies are putting up their services on the internet to make things easier for clients

More often than not, mortgage companies do not force you to adhere to a repayment period that does not go down well with you In many cases, you are the one who ends up determining your repayment period The beauty about most mortgage loan plans is the flexibility of options you have

In some parts of the country, real estate is becoming a real money grabber The rise in property prices has actually caused more and more people to turn to mortgage loan plans such as the 80/20 plan In a bid to qualify for mortgage with the 80/20 plan, you don’t need to worry about down payment to get a mortgage loan approval

Banks can be contacted for mortgage loans You can also obtain a mortgage loan from a property seller if you wish But in most cases, mortgage homes are the most excellent sources of mortgage loans

If you have bad credit, rest assured that you can still search for the best mortgage loan deals Cheap interest rates are available for people with bad credit It’s simply a matter of searching well Didn’t the expert say we get what we search for, especially if we search long, hard and smart enough?

You can get a government stay on your house if it is in danger of being foreclosed A government ordered stay for a house enables you to meet up with payments if you are lagging behind To obtain a stay on your home to prevent it from being foreclosed, you need to have sound reasons

Getting mortgage loan is as simple as going to the right source Banks can give you a loan for your house Going to the appropriate lending bodies allow you to get the right mortgage plan for your situation

This author offers interesting articles about Us Bank Home Mortgage com , and even Mortgage Rates Home Loans Cd Rates on the website –> http://www.getgreathomemortgage.com

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Author : Max Johnson

For many golf course and driving range owners the question is not simply whether to offer food and beverage at their facility, but how much Options include low-maintenance vending machines, a snack bar with more substantial offerings or a full-service restaurant

The goal of any business is to keep the customer in or at the store as long as possible If you do not offer any food, you are almost encouraging people to go down the road to eat If you have food and drinks and can keep customers there to eat, then you just might get them to hit another bucket of balls or buy another drink Obviously this will increase your gross sales and should add money to your bottom line

I know for many people, uttering the words “food industry” brings to mind images of permits, licenses, special fees, inventory, additional personnel, more space and expensive kitchen equipment None of these are why golf course managers or driving range owners get into the golf business Though adding refreshments to the range may require some permits and additional initial costs, how many and how much depends on the scope of the operation

If you are space challenged and are looking for the least amount of headaches possible then a vending machine would be the answer for you Vending machines do not require any permits and you can set them up in a number of different ways limiting the initial cash out of your pocket

The easiest way is to have the company provide the machine and the product and you get a commission off what is sold There are also options where you can buy the machine and have the company place the product The benefit of vending machines, he adds, is that they typpically do not require permits, much space or a lot of maintenance

The next step would be to move up to providing fountain drinks This will need more space as well as drainage In addition, you are going to have to be able to get water to the fountain This could require some construction costs and there will be permits involved However in the long run it will be worth it

Once you have installed the fountain, the transition to a candy rack and grab-and-go foods is very easy In addition to the potato chips and energy bars, the suppliers are offering some very good prepackaged sandwiches and hamburgers that you just heat in a microwave These products really have a good quality now and there is no major kitchen equipment required

To help maximize food revenues, golf courses and driving ranges can serve golfers outdoors rather than waiting for them to come inside and eat by purchasing a grill

People enjoy hitting range balls during their lunch hour With the purchase of an outdoor grill to place near your range you can sell the smell of lunch You can then come up with different lunch specials including the food and range balls Prior to purchasing the grill, check with local officials about any permitting that may need to be completed first Permitting varies across the country

Max Johnson of VGS Golf Click for Snack Bar Equipment. Click for more info on Concession Stand Equipment.

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Author : Jonathan McCulloch

Many business owners struggle to make direct mail marketing work; and by “work”, I mean profitable

There are many reasons for this, with the biggest and most obvious being they don’t really know what’s working and what isn’t

So above all else, and the FIRST thing I encourage you to get right is measurement and testing You don’t have to be particularly clever or sophisticated about this, and you don’t need a college degree in mathematics

All you need to be able to do is track exactly when a bit of business came from your direct mail and when it didn’t It can be as easy as getting them to call in to your store with the letter in hand, but even slightly more sophisticated techniques such as having a unique URL and website to send them to (so you KNOW anyone hitting that site must have come from your letter) isn’t rocket science

Get Your Mail Delivered!

The second direct mail marketing tip is to get your letter delivered to the right person Obvious, yes; but not as easy as it sounds

I regularly get marketing letters from my bank I know where they’re from because they have the name of the bank on the outside, and they use a cheap and nasty shiny envelope completely different from the ones they use for “official” business What’s more, they use pre-printed frank on the envelope

The upshot is, I know exactly what’s inside it and I never bother to open it In the shredder it goes Bye-bye no sale

What they ought to be doing is what I’m going to tell you to do now: use a “live” stamp and a non-standard envelope Put your return address in the corner if you must, but don’t put your company name And hand-write the name and address (please don’t send it to “the owner”), or if you can’t do that, at least use a passable and realistic handwriting font

The whole point of this effort is to make the letter look like it’s a personal communication from you to the addressee It looks personal and from the postman’s and gatekeeper’s point of view, it might be expected Chances are neither of them will dare do anything but make sure it ends up in the hands of the right person

Get Your Mail Opened!

The good news is, if you’ve done what I told you to do above, your mail is going to get not only delivered, but opened, too After all, the person receiving it is also likely to assume it’s a personal letter

But here’s what to do if you want to practically guarantee your direct mail gets opened: make it “lumpy” Literally put something in the envelope to pique their interest and curiosity

And it doesn’t have to be anything expensive: recently some of my clients included a cheap packet of supermarket party-balloons in their mail In the past, I’ve had them sending party-crackers, twigs from the garden, and packets of peanuts

An extra advantage here is you can (and should) “theme” the letter to make it relevant to the “lumpy” inclusion With the balloons, we said something along the lines of how they’d want to celebrate after experiencing the benefits of my client’s products; with the peanuts, it was referring to the cost of their services, and so on Use your imagination

And finally

Get Your Mail Read And Acted Upon

If your mail isn’t delivered, it can’t be opened If it’s not opened, it can’t be read; and if it’s not read it can’t be acted upon (and then it can’t make you any money!)

Unfortunately, this is the part where you’re going to have to put the time and effort in to write the copy There’s no point going to all the trouble of sending a hand-addressed letter with a live stamp and a lumpy “grabber” in it, if your copy puts the reader into a coma

But don’t despair Writing readable, engaging and persuasive copy isn’t THAT hard True, you might not become a world-class copywriter, but there’s every chance you can not only do much better than you think you can, but also do much better than your competitors

The keys to succeeding with copywriting are to really understand the AIDA formula (get their Attention, pique their Interest, arouse their Desire, and finally get them to take Action), and to present yourself in an open, honest, and conversational way Don’t write like a pompous ass like they told you to at school or in college

Write from one friend to another, because people will buy from those they like and trust, and that calls for developing a relationship in your letter You can’t do that while writing like a lawyer!

So there you have it: 3 direct mail marketing tips pretty much guaranteed to turn your direct mail into a profit center

Jon McCulloch, The Small Business Saviour, is Europe’s leading direct marketer. His sole aim is to grow YOUR business by 50% to 250% in the next 12 months, regardless of the economy or the downturn. Discover the truth about small business marketing here: www.small-business-marketing-tips.com

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Author : Darren Yates

The idea of purchasing a commercial property is that it is well suited to the needs of your business This can and is defined by several factors and they will all be considered when you apply for your mortgage The commercial lender will look at your business and what it does and how it will relate to the commercial property in question

If your company makes widgets, the lender will want to know how long you have been making widgets They will also want to know what your growth rate has been over the time you have been making widgets They will look at the property to consider whether it will meet your needs for making widgets during the lifetime of the loan

The lender will want to see that you will have room to grow and that you will grow to fill the space They will also look at the location of the property to see how that is going to work with your widget manufacturing needs Do you have good access to roads that can handle the volume of traffic that will be generated?

Will there be adequate parking available for staff and customers? Does the location provide room for expansion if your growth rate is more then expected or will you be moving in a couple of years? What tax incentives are available on that property and how long will they be available for that property? Are the tax incentives a one-time offer or are they able to be extended to make the property more appealing

The things that will make a commercial property desirable will change depending on what your business is If you want to open a pub, your needs will be very different from that of a factory The lender will want to know that the property is in a good location to maximize the profitability of the pub The property could be located across the street from the factory we talked about in the previous example

The lender will again look at your past performance in regard to operating pubs to make sure that you know how to run a pub They will want to know what the growth potential is and if the commercial property will meet those needs

The commercial lender will not give you a commercial mortgage if the property is too big or not big enough to meet the expected needs of the business If the property does not have enough parking for peak customer traffic, it will mean you could loose business

The lender will want to know if there is enough space for the number of employees required and if the kitchen is large enough to meet thier needs What is the maximum seating capacity of the building and how much will the average customer have to purchase to make the payments

There are many similar small things to consider when deciding if the commercial property being looked at is a good deal for both you and the lender The list of things that can make or break a property deal is very long and it does change from business to business

For example for some businesses, it may come down to waste removal If your business is involved in agriculture, it could come down to the smell Is the location of your farm upwind or downwind from a population center?

If you are upwind from a population center, there could be some issues as locals oppose your being there This could create a different kind of pressure on the lender that could make the property less desirable for the commercial loan An independent broker could help out with this type of issue

It does not make any difference what your business is, what will make all the difference is what your business needs are and will the commercial property meet those needs The definition of a good commercial property is one that will meet all your current and long-term plans

If it does, it will make it easier to get the commercial mortgage you are looking for It will also help you to get better rates and conditions on your commercial financing

Looking for a Commercial Property Mortgage in the UK? Commercial Lifeline can help. As Independent Commercial Mortgage Brokers, Commercial Mortgage and Bridging Finance specialists.

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Author : David Gass

With the advent of the Internet the publishing industry has streamlined with many major publishing houses merging or simply going out of business In the cutthroat market of book publishing it sometimes seems to the layman that there is no place for the small printing presses anymore This is simply untrue The Internet has made it easier for the small presses to reach customers and create special niches Below are the types of publishing houses, which seem to do the best

1 Vanity presses: These types of presses charge the author money in order to be published usually in an anthology format The Internet abounds with poetry vanity presses, which seem to publish just about anything for a price This has led to a stigma associated with any type of publishing company that charges the author for the right to be published

2 Pay per book presses: Many would say that this is just another way of saying vanity press However, these types of presses don’t actually pretend to enjoy or value a person’s work They merely publish a book for everyone that orders it For many, publishers like Lulu are the only way to get their book to a desired market without spending a small fortune

Comic book presses: Comic book presses are a dime a dozen and for every one that goes out of business another small comic book publishing company comes to take its place For some reason people have a hard time taking comic books seriously This may be due to the idea of a monthly format Bookstores tend to stray away from selling comic books, but lines such as Borders Books have dabbled in the Graphic Novel format There is a lot of room for growth in this sector, especially comic books published online

Online presses: These types of presses distribute their content online They generally are able to charge far less and still see a profit However these types of presses too, often have a hard time being taken seriously by readers, who are often looking for something they can hold and take around with them The potential for the growth of online presses is staggering though As children grow up more and more surrounded by computers many will grow accustomed to reading from a computer

Zine presses: This is probably the hardest type of small press from which to turn a profit Zine presses are almost always labors of love and those who invest in them are nearly always more interested in entertainment for its own sake than for any financial gain Many Zine presses gain cult followings when they are able to appeal to a special niche

Collectible book presses: These presses specialize in quality hardcover books and often run reprints with appealing covers and such Their books are considered collectible because of the high quality and low volume of their production Sometimes these books can become quite valuable with time

The World Needs More Small Publishing Companies

In the global market and over the Internet there is a demand for books that appeal to special niches Large publishing companies usually look for books that appeal to a wide audience so small publishing companies are needed to fill in the gap and entertain the minorities of people who are unsatisfied with books geared toward a general audience

David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes a free weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com

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