Issue July 2003 - Cincinnati                        "Keeping Businesses Moving Towards Success"

We hope you enjoy this issue of our marketing newsletter "Business In Motion".  Each month you will find marketing tips, sales strategies, and business services that will help you succeed in your business endeavors.  Good luck and enjoy!  Please feel free to forward this page to an associate.

Sales and Marketing Strategies In This Issue:

Listen More -  Learn how to increase your sales by increasing your listening skills.

Writing Good Sales Copy - Helpful tips to insure that your sales ads and sales copy insure you to increase sales.

How To Handle Difficult People - Learn how to handle difficult people in your life, job and family.  Practical steps to put you in control of difficult situations.

How To Inspire People - 10 steps to learn how to inspire people to be their best.  

Fight Rising Health Care Costs

Finding affordable health care for your employees isn't an easy task, and recent studies show the challenge isn't letting up. Health care costs are rising, and will continue to do so - to the point where small businesses are finding it almost impossible to afford health insurance.

A recent survey of more than 3,000 employers - big and small - shows health insurance rose 8.3 percent in (pushing average annual premiums up to $2,426 for single coverage and $6,351 for family coverage). That's quite an increase. Small businesses in particular were hit harder with a 10.3 percent rise. The study also shows employees didn't see their premiums go up, which means the employer is absorbing these extra costs.

Small businesses are definitely feeling the heat. A study by the Small Business Administration found small businesses are having a hard time affording health insurance. At the same time, they express it's crucial to offer insurance to attract and keep high quality employees in this competitive labor market. A benefits package, which includes health coverage, is expected by any potential employee.

Here are some ways you can trim your business's health care costs.

• Choose a cheaper plan. Although traditional indemnity plans may be a favorite because of their flexibility, they're usually the most expensive. HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations), and their flat per-employee fees, keep your costs down - but with tight restrictions. PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations) will cost you a bit more than HMOs, but offer your employees more flexibility when choosing physicians. As with any purchase, always compare pricing across a number of vendors.

• Take advantage of tax incentives. If your business is incorporated, your costs and your employees' costs are entirely tax deductible. If you aren't incorporated, you're not out of luck - a portion of your costs are tax deductible.

• Join an AHP. Small businesses owners are joining together in AHPs (Association Health Plans), to get deals from insurance companies. "Power in numbers" is the theory behind these groups. To find out if there's an AHP in your state, check with The Association Healthcare Coalition.

• Cut down on contributions. Your employees will most likely expect you to contribute to the cost of premiums, especially since the majority of small businesses do. But if it's absolutely impossible for you to fit contributions into your budget, at least look into insurance plans to get a group rate for your staff.

The controversy over the rising costs of health care is a long-standing one that extends beyond the business world. The bright side of the matter is that although you can't control the nation's rising costs, with a little effort you do have some control over the cost of health insurance in your own office - where it counts most to you.

For the most comprehensive information on insurance benefits for your Cincinnati area business contact Tom Stautberg from Stautberg Benefits Group at 515-563-8886.  Or you can click here for more info.

"Effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems."

By:  Dr. Steven Covey

directory of resources

Marketing Support -

 creativeBUSINESSworks

Number One Rated Web Sites - Save time searching through thousands of web sites.  Use this free web site to search the best of the web.

The Number One Web Site

Workplace Stress Reducer - Employees are so important to a company's success. Click here to learn how to improve the work place environment. 


Small Business Advice  -  How to promote your local business on the internet!

Make Contact. Build Relationships. Get Results. Check out ACT! 6.0 for 2004 today!

How to Create Powerful, Money-Making Emails to sell any product or service...100% Guaranteed  Click here to learn how.

Group Health  Insurance Services - For The Cincinnati area: Stautberg Benefits Group

FUN FACTS & TRIVIA:

• There are 119 grooves on the edge of a quarter.

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, was the first novel ever to be written on a typewriter.

• There is one slot machine in Las Vegas for every eight inhabitants.

• Disney World in Orlando, Florida, covers 30,500 acres (46 square miles), making it twice the size of the island of Manhattan, New York.

• A baseball player trying to hit a 90-mile-per-hour pitch must begin his swing a quarter of a second after the ball is released.

• While filming the popular 1990s television series "Baywatch, its cast and crew went through 306 pounds of body makeup and one 50-gallon drum of sunscreen each season.

Monthly Riddle:

Helpful Links:

if you would like to help just click on the link: 

24,000 die of hunger each day.  Help The Hunger Site -    

The Hunger Site

Help fund mammograms for underprivileged women -

  The Breast Cancer Site

Help neglected animals - 

 The Animal Rescue Site

Web Site Benefits

• On Line Presence 24 Hours A Day

• Stay Competitive In Your Market

• Cost Effective Advertising

• Use For Promoting Your Business
  

In A Few Years There'll Be Two Types of Businesses -- Those With Websites... and Those Out Of Business.

"Which Will Describe YOUR Business?"

Marketing Tip of The Month:  

Do not overlook the value of a customer relationship!

Companies who devote the majority of their resources to getting new customers usually do so at the expense of their old customers. If your customers feel forgotten and neglected they'll take their business elsewhere. Be sure to value and protect your established customers.  Offer them a discount, keep in contact, send a promotional item.  Anything to let them know you appreciate them as a customer.