Tips for Public Speaking

Public speaking can be daunting for many people.  However, it is often necessary if you wish to get your ideas across. The following tips may be of help:

1. Join an organization such as toastmasters that helps you develop public speaking skills and a whole lot more. 
2. Remember your body language, keep your body relaxed. Any tension will "appear" in your voice. 
3. Don't cross your arms or look down at your audience. Crossed arms build a wall/division between you and the audience. 
4. Many people prefer not to use a podium, again the podium can be a barrier between you and the audience. 
5. Look at the audience...scan it frequently with you eyes. Talk to people, not over their heads. 
6. Dress comfortably and that is especially important for shoes. Don't pick presentation day to break in a new pair of shoes. 
7. Keep your hands out of your pockets. 
8. Women should avoid large gaudy jewellery, dangling earrings and low necklines.  You want people to listen to what you are saying...don't distract them 
9. Don't turn to face a powerpoint presentation, keep your face to your audience.  This is very easy to achieve if you have a laptop and it is in front of you.  You can use the laptop screen as your source and you know your audience is seeing the same thing on the screen(s). 
10. Smile, relax and enjoy. You know your topic. Strive to work from a minimum of notes. Reading isn't nearly as effective as talking. 

Practice, practice and more practice will make you more comfortable making presentations to small and large groups of people. Use the energy in the room and be in control

Ten More Tax Tips

There are many rules and regulations when it comes to calculating and reporting taxes.  A few more tips to help you through the process:

1. All Canadian T-4 slips must be prepared and distributed by February 28th.  
2. All RRSP contributions for 2010 must be done by the end of February. 
3. If you have a home based business, a portion of your household expenses may be eligible as a deduction against your home based business net income.
4. A portion of your vehicle expenses may be an eligible deduction if you use your vehicle for business purposes. Canada Revenue Agency requires that you keep a vehicle log, tracking the total number of kms driven, the business kms driven.  
5. Keep all your vehicle receipts and calculate the % allowed based on your vehicle log. 
6. If you have transferred some personal assets into the business, determine a realistic valuation. For example, the black book valuation for your vehicle rather than the original purchase price.
7. If you or your spouse are self employed both marriage partners must pay any taxes owning by April 30th but have until June 15th to file their tax returns. 
8. The owners of a sole proprietorship or a partner in a partnership must file the tax information for their business on their personal tax return. The business activities must be reported on a calendar year basis. 
9. Incorporated companies can select their year end at any time throughout the year. However, once the year end has been selected it cannot be changed with the written permission of CRA. 
10. As the tax laws are constantly changing, it is often advisable to hire a professional tax prepared to complete your tax return. 

The above information is intended for information purposes only, please consult your professional advisor for recommendations for your particular situation. 

Top Ten To Do's for After the Trade Show

After all the work of preparing for, and then working at, a trade show it is always tempting to let out a sign of relief and relax.  However, that will have to wait. The after show activities are the what will convert those maybes into actual sales. There are always a number of routine tasks that need attention as well. The following list will help you  make every show as productive as possible.

1. Unpack all merchandise and props, inspect for damage and make the necessary repairs, or replacements. You want everything to be ready for the next show. 
2. Follow up on all promises made at the show.  If you promised to provide additional information or pricing do it immediately after returning home from the show. 
3. Many trade show organizers provide the exhibitors with a listing of show visitors.  If you have access to such a list, plan a program to contact everyone on the list with announcements of new products or other show dates. Keep in touch. Just because they may not be ready to purchase now that doesn't mean they won't be interested in a few weeks or months. 
4. Evaluate your actual results by comparing them to what you had budgeted. Did you meet your goals? 
5. Review your sales by items or category. Were there items that didn't do as well as you expected? Were there some that did better? 
6. If appropriate prepare a brief survey/feedback form and ask some of your key customers to complete it. The object would be to get information on which items are selling well, and if possible find out why these items are particularly attractive to customers. 
7. Record any notes about the show that will be of value to you when making the decision to display in this show in future years. Particularly note and comments by other exhibitors about other shows they have attended and which they found to be the best for them. 
8. Issue a press release about the success you had at the show. Include a picture and send to all local media outlets. 
9.  Include a couple of pictures and a writeup on your website or in your newsletter. 
10. Don't forget to add any new contacts to your social media pages. That will  give you a very economical way to update them on new events and products that you are involved in. 

 Now relax and take a deep breath. It will soon be time to get packed up for the next show. 

Tax Tips for Small Businesses

Don't we all enjoy the process of "getting ready for the taxman"? The following tips and suggestions are based on Canadian tax laws and they are not meant to be advice.  Consult your Tax professional to determine what would be best for you.

1. Be organized. File your receipts in a logical manner. This will reduce the time spent during the actual income tax preparation exercise. 
2. If you do not understand basic bookkeeping, hire someone who does.
3. Keep your record keeping up to date. Don't save six months of paperwork to do all at once.
4. Separate the invoices and receipts for all capital expenditures, things that have a life of more than one year. 
5. Make a list of all the money owed to you.
6. Make a list of all the bills you owe
7. Count your inventory...don't estimate!
8. Give your information to your accountant as soon as possible after your year end. Accountants get extremely busy between mid February and the end of April so avoid the rush. 
9. Prepare a list of questions you may have for your tax preparer. Don't rely on your memory.
10. If you are hiring an accountant this year, ask for references and talk to other small business owners to find out who they use and if they are satisfied with the service they are receiving. 

These are a few of the basics.  More in future blogs for home based businesses and retail. 

Ten Tips for When the Customer Isn't Pleased

We have all encountered the customer that there is no pleasing, they are never satisfied and they take up time and resources with little benefit. Or is the benefit little?  Sometimes the best referrals come from the most demanding customers. Other businesses give up and let the customer go away angry and dissatisfied. A few tips to deal with dissatisfied customers:

1. Understand the problem. The customer has a complaint, don't assume that you know what is wrong. Ask questions until you understand exactly what is wrong.
2. Under what the customer expects.  What will make the situation right for them.  For example some customers don't know what it is they want you to do...just fix the problem. If the new tires that you sold to the customer are faulty what does the customer want...new tires, a refund, a credit for the tread remaining on the tires, or ???
3. Give the customer you undivided attention. Don't let them feel that their concern isn't important to you. 
4. Don't promise more than you can deliver
5. Deliver on time and more that you committed too
6. Ask the customer what it would take to make them happy. A gutsy move so be prepared to follow through if you use this one. 
7. Let the customer know what is happening to solve the problem. If you have to resolve the complaint over time, keep in touch with the customer. 
8. Follow up with the customer to make sure the solution that you put in place is working.
9. Follow up again after a few months to make sure everything is still all right. 
10. Treat your customers like the valuable asset that they are...no shortcuts and no "good enoughs". 

Sounds like a lot, but customer service will make or break your business. 

Ten email do's and don'ts

I read the other day that email is fast becoming a thing of the past, we are now using social media to communicate, fast and brief messages about our life, work and dreams. It seems hard to believe that email is going the way of snail mail...or is there a place for both? The following tips are for business communications.

1. Formal communications require formal format...use letterhead and write a business letter.  You may chose to send it by "snail mail" or attach to an email. 
2. If you are sending important communications as attachments to emails, ask for a read receipt.
3. Don't assume that all emails find their destination. While some will bounce back to you, other can vanish into servers that don't forward them on or back.  
4. Legal documents should be dealt with in a paper based mode, print and mail. 
5. Remember that you have no control over who will eventually see your email. Don't write in haste and regret at leisure. 
6. Always be polite, no profanity and avoid abbreviations that some may not understand. 
7. Limit the size of the files you are sending by email. Not everyone has the storage capacity for large video or picture files. 
8. Not everyone has the internet speed to download large files. Limit the information in an email to must have and follow up with faxes or letters. 
9. Respect the reader's time. Don't fill up their in box with several emails when one well written on will do. 
10. Use the subject line to describe what the email is about. Even when replying to an email change the subject line to describe what you are including in your response. 

Email is a fast and convenient means of communicating. It can also be very effective if used correctly.

Ten Websites for Businesses

There are several excellent websites that offer reliable information for business owners.  The following are just a few that you might find helpful:

1. http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/ 
2. http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizopportunities/index.html
3. http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/access/business/a2b.asp#register 
4. http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/access/business/bizpal.asp 
5. http://www.acsbe.com/consulting/acsbes-self-employment-benefits-program.html 
6. Jeffrey Gitomer - Sales info 
7. http://marketing.about.com/ 
8. http://www.gov.ns.ca/econ/ 
9. http://www.sba.gov/ 
10. ScotiaBank 

This is only a few of the many business related websites that are available.  For example all Canadian Financial Institutions have a business banking section on their website which provides information re loans and lending criteria.