December, 2012 | BizSieve.com

Start Your Real Estate Business with an Effective Business Plan

The real estate industry has faced a number of hurdles in the past couple of years. Now, this is an obvious trend in any emerging business sector. However, after 2 consecutive ruthless years the market has sprung back and there have been quite a few real estate firms that have participated in the rebound. With the rising number of refinance and loan modifications, the activity in the real estate market is obvious. In fact, if we start thinking from the basic point of view, then starting a real estate company itself isn’t that easy. It requires a lot of careful research and hard work.

Latest news reveals that Vornado Realty Trust is said to have acquired about 59 percent interest in Manhattan. This real estate basically happens to be a residential complex and the value of the deal is estimated to be somewhere around the likes of 844.8 million dollars. With the kind of money that’s raked in, it’s important that you have a grand plan before getting into real estate business.

Strategies to formulate a real estate business plan

It’s a fact that the real estate business is literally thronged with eager entrepreneurs. All of them are searching for the right niche. If you happen to be one of those innovative business people, then in spite of the housing and commercial estate being volatile avenues, there’s a lot of profit to be made as well. Formulate an effective business plan to take your first step into real estate business.

Study real estate trends

The ideal thing would be to educate yourself thoroughly on the real estate trends before starting a real estate business. Amongst other things that you need to write on the business plan, you should include the new techniques that you’d like to employ for reaching out to the customers. You can get updated information from online magazines like Realty News and various other such sources to get started with your business.

Lay out the principals

It’d be wise for you to lay out the principals as far as your advertising and marketing plans are concerned. There are quite a few real estate businesses that make use of guerrilla marketing tactics like say for instance street teams. On the other hand, there are other businesses which make use of traditional media to cater to the established property owners. Be careful and research thoroughly the promotional costs involved. At the same time, you should keep in mind the fact that there are advertising costs too.

Explain staffing needs

Your real estate business plan should include proper explanation for the staffing needs as well. Initially you should make sure that you’ve got a small group of agents who’ll take the onus of actively scouting for locations and taking care of customer service. Graphic designers, contractors, web consultants are others you should always keep in mind.

Include relevant biographies

For each member of your ownership team, make sure that you include a biography. This is important for those who read your business plan should be aware that the daily operations of your real estate business are actually managed by innovative and highly qualified professionals. Now, if it so happens that your team had participated in real estate ventures in the past, then you should include that in your real estate business plan as well. Highlight the certifications and real estate ventures clearly.

List the costs involved

You must have envisioned certain operational costs for your agency, at least for the next 2 years. Make sure that you include real estate investment costs, wages and the facility costs amongst the major aspects in your projections. Make sure that this section is put right at the beginning of your plan, so that investors can see it clearly. Remember, if you’re unable to adequately fund your operational costs, then there are high chances that you might have to refinance your real estate business some time down the line.

Another important fact is to include the costs that might be required for expansion in future. If you plan for new branch openings, then they should be there as well. Nevertheless, keep in mind the fact that refinancing doesn’t really come without its costs. Many businesses are known to salvage their businesses by refinancing undoubtedly, but there should be enough money to do so.

Finally, it’s for you to steer your real estate business, and if you feel that you need the anchor of refinance some where in between, then you have to take its help. However, make use of an effective plan and get going with your own business before anything else.

Creating a Brand-Aware Employee Culture-Six Tips

Brand-awareness among employees is essential for any company that hopes to succeed. Every employee is critical to the success of a company, and everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to company values and goals. An employee culture that is brand-aware is going to be that much more effective at achieving success. Here are some tips.

Image by smi23le / Flickr

Clearly Communicate Brand Values

In order to foster brand awareness among employees, it’s important to make sure all employees understand exactly what the brand is all about. A brand’s core values must be clearly communicated to all team members. There should be literature that details the character and values of the brand, and this information should be reiterated in all of the company’s communications with employees, such as newsletters, emails, meetings, and training materials.

Reinforce the Brand

The character of a brand should be reinforced at every opportunity that presents itself, because employees will gain greater awareness of the brand through repetition and consistency. Brand symbols should appear in many places, and everything your company does and every policy that employees follow should be in line with branding efforts.

Provide Ongoing Training

Training and education can help employees become more brand-aware, and they will also become better brand advocates. If your brand’s core values include being environmentally-friendly, for example, employees should receive regular education and training on news regarding the environment, recycling policies, energy-saving tactics, and more. The more your employees know, the better, as it will help them relate to your brand more closely.

Encourage Brand Advocacy

Your employees are all brand advocates, and it’s important to encourage them to represent your brand in a positive, accurate way. There should be detailed social media policies and guidelines related to your brand, and employees should be encouraged rather than discouraged to discuss your brand online. When employees are outstanding brand advocates, their commitment should be recognized and praised, because it represents their understanding of your brand.

Hold Fun Employee Events

Fun employee events that relate to branding and the company are great for fostering a tight-knit community of workers who feel a common bond with each other and their employers. For example, parties to celebrate milestones like anniversaries or grand openings are great. Fun events encourage employees to feel a sense of pride for their company.

Examine the Competition

Employees who are brand-aware help give a company a competitive advantage over similar companies. Employees should receive training and education on the key differences that exist between their company and their competitors. An increased understanding of the uniqueness of their company will help boost their loyalty and pride in the brand they represent. A little healthy competition is always good for business, so involve your employees in the race.

A well-defined brand with employees that feel connected to it should be the goal of every company, no matter what its size. Small and large companies can benefit from boosting brand-awareness in the workplace and rewarding employees for their commitment.

Laura Kitner is a brand awareness consultant.

Duplicate Content Analyzed: What about Block Quotes?

Google has been cracking down on duplicate content rules and penalties more and more each year, so it’s important to really understand what does and does not count as duplicate content. You never quite know what Google is going to pull next, so you can never be too careful or ask questions that seem too obvious. In other words, if you’ve ever wondered about quotes and how they pertain to duplicate content, don’t hesitate to ask.

Matt Cutts Explains Quoting and Duplicate Content

Someone finally did ask Matt Cutts, head of Google’s webspam team, this question, and he had a few different things to say and rules to explain:

Always link back. First, you must always include a link that will send readers back to where the quote was originally published. If you do this, you’ll likely never have to worry about getting penalized. Cutts explained that they have good ways of detecting if you’re doing this without any issues.

Keep the quotes short. Although linking back to the original source is great, that won’t be good enough if you’re quoting an entire article from a site. You want to keep your quotes short to avoid changing your sites reputation in the eyes of Google.

Offer your own thoughts. You don’t want to have a quote, a few words, another quote from somewhere else, another few words, etc. You have to have “attribution and insight” as Cutts would say. You need to have your own opinion that is more than two or three words.

The moral of the story is that appropriate quoting is completely acceptable. Many great sites do this and Google has said it’s extremely legitimate. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the video that Cutts created in response to this exact question:

About the Author: Amanda DiSilvestro is a graduate of Illinois State University. Although she graduated with an English Education degree, she found herself working as a full-time blogger in the SEO/social media department at HigherVisibility SEO, a leading franchise SEO company.

How do courier companies deal with cold weather

Running a courier company is a lucrative business opportunity which is not without its own set of challenges. Apart from keeping time, working like clockwork and detailed planning one of the major challenges you could be faced with is dealing with the weather. The blazing heat in summer, rain in the monsoon and the cold in winter, each season presents its own set of challenges.

courier service — Image by flgr / Flickr

How do you deal with the challenges posed by cold weather? Here is a list to help you and your employees cope with the vagaries of winter…

Keeping Your Vehicles in excellent condition

Your vans, cars and other vehicles help you get around and deliver the goods (literally). You should regularly check your tyres, oil and water. This will prevent you from getting stuck with a break down in the cold.

Getting a screen wash is an essential when you work outdoors in today’s air and environment. Keep it topped up. Going without ensuring that you have a full tank of gas could be something that you would want to avoid. A good move also is ensuring that road salt is applied to any surfaces exposed to the elements.

A smooth and trouble free commute will help you deliver the goods on time in any weather!

Stay on Call

Keep cell phone woes at bay. Keep your cell phone fully charged, and because batteries have a life of their own and die without much warning, it is always a sensible thing to carry a second battery and your battery charger.

Ensuring Your Employees Stay Warm and Safe

A courier company is work force driven and it involves using people at all stages including delivery. This is why your employees must remain safe and warm. Here is a checklist you need to hand over to them and tell them to ensure that they use it:

Blankets and warm clothes: Blanket to keep warm becomes necessary if you happen to over use your auto’s heating system. Not only do people suffer in the cold but you will also put an enormous strain on your vehicle. Blankets and warm clothes are absolute life savers in such a situation.

In case you are trapped overnight in a snow storm or worse a sleeping bag a useful item. Keeping your body temperature high enough to stop you from freezing is important and the good thing is a sleeping bag doesn’t take much room.

Shovel: Carry a shovel just in case you get trapped in by the snow. For courier jobs that take you delivering goods in the colder zones, when snow falls while you are taking a short break or grabbing a bite you might come out to your van and find it surrounded by deep snow. A shovel will come in handy.

Food and Supplies: Spare food and drink supplies are always to keep you warm and alert.

Cold weather is often challenging for your on-the-road staffs, but with proper precautions, you can be sure that your business is up and running, even in winter.

Is Your Business Wired Into Success?

With the New Year coming, what on your list have you checked twice to see if this year has found your small business naughty or nice?

If your customer service habits need a little improving around the edges, one of the ways to do this is by offering consumers more options to pay for their products and/or services. Quite specifically, having a wireless credit card machine gives you the opportunity to conduct more business at an efficient and quicker pace than your standard traditional landline option.

For those who may be new to such devices, they have shown to make more customers buy on impulse for starters, something that you as a small business owner can’t complain about.

wireless payment — Image by justin / Flickr

In order to find the right wireless credit card machine for your small business, consider:

How it works

With such a device, you slide the customer’s credit card through the machine, inputting the amount of the sale. The terminal hooks up with a radio tower, transmitting the credit card data and total bill. Once the processor has the details, they are passed along to the financial institution which provided the card. After the card is determined to be valid and the sought after amount for the transaction is deemed available, the amount of purchase is set aside for the business owner. At the time the settlement process is undertaken, the funds are moved from the card provider and deposited into the business owner’s checking account, typically within 48 hours from the original transaction;

Shop around

You wouldn’t buy from an office supply company without checking them out, nor would you purchase office furniture from a company without reviewing them. The same holds true with your wireless credit card machine purchase and network provider selection. Review a handful of companies to see who offers the best product and service at the best price, who is financially stable, and who has a track record that is void of large numbers of customer complaints. Also, take note that a number of merchants selling used terminals may not know the network the terminal works on;

Know the fees and terms of conditions

The last thing you want to do is sign up with a provider who will hit you with various fees, not to mention make it difficult to get out of a contract if need be. Make sure you know up front what fees are for both hardware and service, thereby avoiding shock when your first merchant statement bill arrives. It is also usually wiser to go with a shorter term agreement with the provider to test them out and see if you are happy with both the product and service;

Plan ahead

Finally, make sure you plan ahead when going for a wireless credit card machine and provider. If you do business on the road and/or at trade shows, you don’t want a nasty surprise that your wireless product is not ready to go the day you need it. In the event you operate a seasonal small business, let your provider know that your business has busy and slow periods during the year. Among other things, this helps negate the idea that a sudden amount of activity is the result of a swiped terminal.

If doing more business is one of your prime goals for 2013, adding a wireless credit card machine may be the best gift you can give yourself.

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers small business topics for various websites, including finding the right wireless credit card machine for your company.