I have some sad news to report. As of today, thousands of nonprofits will lose their tax exempt staus (501 c 3). The IRS amended the tax code over three years ago and sent notification letters to more than 500,000 nonprofits. Only half of that number responded by filing new tax exempt applications. 

Today's deadline is for nonprofits with budgets of $25,000 or less, others have a few more days. It is sad to say but a lot of the nonprofits in our local neighborhoods will be forced to close because they are unaware of the tax bill. When a organization lose tax exemption status they CANNOT receive tax-deductible donations and this may affect them receiving grants. I can assure you from my experience writing grants, they will not receive private sector grants or donations.

The IRS said this change would be helpful because it will eliminate organizations that are defunct and it will give them a cleaner list of organizations that really do exist. These statements came from Bobby Zarin, an IRS director who works with nonprofits, The Houston Chronicle, and Molly Hottle AP.

This article was written by Racheal Simon, your weekly "What's New with Grants" writer.

Purpose Driven Life: What on earth am I here for?

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions.

You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world’s standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you.

Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. It defines what you do and what you don’t do.Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which aren’t.

Without a clear purpose you have no foundation on which to base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources. You will tend to make choices based on circumstances, pressures, and your mood at that moment. People who don’t know their purpose try to do too much—and that causes stress, fatigue, and conflict.

This was first posted on LinkedIn in the Christian Business Group. Special Thanks to fellow member and author Steven Stanly, Senior Software Engineer at  MNC in Chennai, India. Steven is experienced in Java-based enterprise web application development, production support and web services implementation.

Are You A Duck or An Eagle?

Harvey Mackay is the author of two previous New York Times #1 bestsellers, “Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive” and “Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt”. In total, Harvey's books have sold 10 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 37 languages.  He also is one of America's most popular and entertaining business speakers. Toastmasters International named him one of the top five speakers in the world.

In 1959, at the age of 26, Harvey purchased a small and failing company that produced envelopes.  Today that company has grown into a $100 million business employing over 600 people. It’s one of the nation's major envelope manufacturers, producing 25 million envelopes a day. As chairman, Harvey's philosophy is engrained in the company, beginning with its motto:

“Do what you love, love what you do and deliver more than you promise.”

Harvey Mackay tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proves his point.  As I recall it, allow me to re-tell the story of Wally the cab driver.

Mackay was waiting in line for a ride at the airport.   When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was brightly polished.  Not a speck of dirt was in sight.   The cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.  Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the driver handed him a laminated card and said:

'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

That was something totally unexpected from a cab driven, but something that immediately caught the attention of a business strategist like Harvey Mackay.

Mission Statement:  To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. And, as he got into the cab, he noticed that the inside of the cab was as spotlessly clean as the outside.  Sliding behind the wheel, the driver asked, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

Jokingly, Mackay said, 'No, what I'd really like is a soft drink.'

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice. Which would you prefer?”

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, the driver continued, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'  Then the driver handed him another laminated card, and explained,  'These are the stations I get on my satellite radio, in case you'd like to listen to some music. I have the air conditioning on.  Is the temperature comfortable for you?”

Still stunned, Harvey muttered, “Yeah, sure, that feels great. Tell me Wally, have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, sir, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last couple of years. My first five years as a cabbie, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the drivers do. Then one day I heard some personal growth guru on the radio.  He said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you will rarely disappoint yourself. He also said, 'Stop complaining!  Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck.  Be an eagle’. I thought that was pretty funny.  But the man on the radio explained that ducks quack and complain.  Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' Wally said.  'I realized that I was a duck, always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and their customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

 'I'm guessing that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year.  This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I had just delivered one of my regular customers to the airport.  I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally the cab driver had made a phenomenal discovery, and ended doubling, then quadrupling his income.  He decided to stop quacking like a duck and start soaring like an eagle.

How about you?  How could your business profit from the same attitude change that Wally the cab driver made?  What changes would be necessary for you to differentiate yourself from the competition and, like an eagle, begin to soar above the crowd?

CIN conclusion: Stop complaining and start serving!

 This article is from S.C.O.R.E.

      SCORE Houston                     
 Your Success Is Our Only Goal

To Help Your Business Succeed...   We Educate             We Counsel                   We Mentor        Visit SCORE's Newest Office at International Trade Center 11,110 Bellaire Blvd. near Wilcrest To schedule your free appointment, please call Jennifer at 832-448-0190 or E-mail jenniferitc@gmail.com     This newest office is also the home on the ITC - SCORE Network.  We call it "a new experience in networking and strategic business planning". To learn how SCORE and ITC is taking business networking to a whole new level, please click here.  With the addition of this newest office, SCORE now provides counseling services at TEN locations all over the Houston area, so that our personal and private business coaching is not only FREE, it's CONVENIENT to where you live and work.     Find a SCORE location near you.

By Tom Egelhoff

If there is one mistake small town businesses make more often than any other it's, "What ever is left over, we'll use for advertising." Marketing and advertising is an investment, not an expense. I know it sure seems like an expense to me when I'm writing the check, but trust me it's not. Without enough money put aside for advertising your sales can go down and you suddenly have less and less for promotion.

When do you advertise the most? For most businesses it's the first day of business. Don't you have a Grand Opening, balloons, flyers, ads, on-site radio stations, contests, and prizes? Did the income from sales pay for that? No, it didn't. You advertise most when you need business. You advertise more when you don't.

An average cost of advertising is usually 1 to 5% of gross sales, which can vary according to location, local advertising rates, and industry. Car dealers need more advertising than funeral homes.

Before we get to the 25 tips let's look at the basic strategies of successful advertising.

* In order to be successful, your advertising must provide a consumer benefit or solve a problem.
* That benefit or solution must be wanted by the consumer.
* The product or service you are offering must be tied directly to that benefit or solution.
* The benefit or solution must be distinctly communicated through medial advertising. In other words, be clear, forget the advertising glitz and make sure the message isn't lost in the ad.

A small-budget advertiser doesn't have the ''deep pockets" to develop big advertising campaigns. Some time you need to break the rules to be noticed. Avis did it by admitting they were "Number 2" in the car rental business and that campaign took them from 6th place to second place. When they stopped that campaign they dropped back to 6th again. In the past year they have gone back to it.

Budget conscious advertisers must achieve top results for their advertising dollar. Expand your dollars by adopting some creative techniques.

Here's 25 tips I hope will help you.

* Radio, newspapers and magazine specialists will frequently give free help in developing an advertising strategy. Things like demographic information, money-saving ways to produce your ads etc.
* Place your ads in off hours or in unusual locations for less. Many times you can still reach your target market with these spots.
* Instead of a one-time big splash ad, be consistent with frequent small ads that work.
* Monthly magazines sometimes have unsold ad space at the end of the month they will sell at a discount.
* If you have an 800 number, put it in every ad for immediate response and feedback.
* Try advertising consistently in the classifieds. These ads may draw more customers than more expensive display ads.
* Can you barter for the cost of ad production? Maybe the newspaper needs painting in exchange for an ad about your paint store.
* Piggyback advertising are the ads you receive with your Mastercard bill. Is there someone in your town that sends out a lot of bills? Can you put a small flyer in with their bills and split the postage? Or pay a small fee?
* Split advertising costs with the people who sell to you. Vendors and manufactures are always looking for exposure. Let people know you carry their products and have the vendor pick up part of the ad cost.
* Are there up front advertising discounts for cash?
* Consider advertising in regional issues of national magazines. The costs are lower and you can still reach your target market. TV Guide is a good choice. It stays around for at least a week. Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report may stay in local doctors offices for years.
* Share ad costs with neighbor business. Video stores and Pizza parlors are natural partners. Have coupons to each others stores or share the cost of flyers.
* Try reducing the size of your ad (not in the Yellow Pages) or length of your radio spots. A 60 second spot is not twice as much as a 30 second spot but you won't get twice as many customers for a 60 over a 30. Going with small ads or shorter spots will allow you to do more ads which normally pulls more customers. It's better to be there every day with small ads than every month with one big one.
* Develop tight production controls to minimize the need to reject finished ads. The message is more important than the messenger. Don't try to produce ads that win awards, produce ads that sell.
* Who are your very best customers? Aim your ads to talk directly to people like them.
* What will suppliers give you in the way of point-of-purchase materials. Posters, stand ups, handouts, etc. Some have excellent display racks you can use.
* Some national chains like Coke and Pepsi provide outdoor signs for businesses. There are also indoor lighted signs you write on with special markers to advertise your special offers.
* Can you sponsor a community event? A fun-run, golf tournament, or other event that will be well publicized in the community. Your name may not be prominently displayed but sometimes the positive exposure in the community will bring in new customers.
* Small businesses can seldom afford saturation advertising. You must be selective in the media that reaches your customers. Pin your ad reps down and make them show you exactly how their media reaches your target audience.
* Exploit the media you choose to the fullest. If your message is verbal, you don't need TV. Use radio, billboards and newspapers to the fullest.
* Consider direct mail. A letter and brochure before customer contact can increase business. An IBM study concluded that selling time can be reduced from 9.3 to 1.3 total hours with direct mail advertising. A Sales and Marketing Executives International Study showed salespeople went from eight orders per 100 cold calls to 38 orders per 100 when direct mail was used.
* Try an editorial style ad. These are ads that look like actual stories in the newspaper. They will have "advertisement" at the top of the article. Develop a good headline, and 50% more people will read the article than would read an ad of the same size.
* You can't match larger competitors dollar-for-dollar but, you can use unusual approaches (like the Avis idea above), color, music, slogans, humor (be careful here), or media selection to win your market away from the big guys.
* Due to the high costs of conventional advertising on, radio, TV, newspapers, many cost conscious business have been forced to look for lower cost methods. Can you advertise on parking meters, taxi boards, balloons, blimps, and grocery shopping carts. Community bulletin boards, movie ads, and weekly newspaper shoppers.
* Key your ads. Put something in the ad that will let you know which media it came from. On coupons, put a code that will record the paper and date of the ad. In radio or TV, have them mention the ad to get the discount. Ask every customer how they found you.
* Plan for a rainy day. During the year put a small amount aside each month for emergencies. You never know when you'll need to react quickly to whatever the competition is doing. You must be able to capitalize on breaking national events or news regarding your industry. If negative things happen in your industry you may need to respond quickly to make sure the right message is presented.
* Always give the customer more than you promised and more than they expected. This is tip number 26 of the 25 we advertised. Maybe this last one is the one you needed.

I hope these tips will help your business grow. Not all may be relevant to your particular situation. Hopefully, they will illustrate the importance to plan and control your advertising budget. (To Main Menu)

This article may be reproduced for your non-profit group or organization provided it is not altered in any way and the following is attached:

©1998-2004 Eagle Marketing PO Box 271 Bozeman, MT 59771-0271
http://www.smalltownmarketing.com - (406) 585-0219 - Toll Free (888) 550-6100
email:tommail@smalltownmarketing.com

Based in Bozeman, MT, Tom Egelhoff is the author of How To Market, Advertise & Promote Your Business Or Service In A Small Town, and The Small Town Advertising Handbook: How To Say More And Spend Less. He is also a seminar and workshop presenter and trainer. He may be reached at 888-550-6100 or PO Box 271 Bozeman, MT 59771-0271