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Confronting the Competition—Do You Scrutinize Or Ignore?

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Business owners and leaders expect that competition will be a factor in their marketplace. The most successful among them have learned to not fear competition but instead recognize the hide-in-plain-sight gift that competition reveals—we can make money here! In fact, experienced business owners can even rely on the presence of competitors to help them discover a potentially lucrative customer segment for their line of products and services. But the question remains—when confronting the competition, what course of action would a smart business owner be wise to follow? Does it make more sense to closely monitor the activities of key business rivals or is it smarter to be a contrarian and take scant notice of competitors’ activities?

No matter how you choose to look at it, you will look— competition demands your attention. Even declining to closely follow and respond to competitors is an action that requires both thought and decision-making. Some people say that competition will bring out either your best or your worse. Whether you go head-2-head with an ambitious competitor or avoid a showdown and decide to play to your strengths instead, competition will test your mettle. Information—your company’s Key Performance Indicators, the results of customer surveys, industry sales trends and even the appearance of a social media meme that somehow influences your marketplace—is your best ammunition but how you use that resource is your decision. Let’s look at both possible responses.

The benefits of monitoring the competition

  • You may need to stay on top of things When you plan to carry out a mission-critical initiative—expanding into a niche market or launching a new product or service, for instance—then any key moves made by either direct or indirect competitors will be of keen interest to you. Your launch timetable may need to be adjusted, for example. When there’s a lot on the line, it is imperative that you closely follow all significant competitors, so that you’ll be apprised of any activity that might impact your strategy. Take steps to gather the intel that will allow you to respond decisively to an unexpected challenge.
  • Identify key competitors Conduct enough research to determine your top four or five competitors. Visit their website and social media sites to learn how they communicate with customers and also to refine your thoughts about your organization’s ideal customer. You can also get insight into the depth of customer loyalty, the power of the customer experience they offer and the strength of their brand—all qualities that you may want to incorporate, or avoid, at your company. Keeping an eye on certain competitors can make doing business better for you.
  • Learn from competitors’ mistakes Even if your product or service is poised to rock the marketplace, it’s a good idea to remain humble and prepare for what might go wrong. Business history is filled with examples of products that were expected to become The Next Big Thing and instead, they tanked. Allow yourself to learn from the failures and successes of others (check out competitors that have something in common with your own entity, rather than a multinational). It would be a useful exercise to discover the keywords that propelled them to the top of an internet search (Google Alerts is a great tool for keeping on top of this) and the content they post that attracts sizeable traffic and shares?

Don’t stress out over the competition

It’s often a given that a business owners and Freelancers will to some extent follow the activities of one or more direct and/or indirect competitors. It’s usually considered good business to be somewhat familiar with the solutions that your prospects may have used to resolve their challenges and achieve objectives. With that competitive info in mind, you can create realistic and more effective talking points that can win new customers.

Still, close monitoring of your competition can potentially become too much of a good thing; the strategy may at some point result in diminishing returns. It’s useful to cultivate a certain awareness of what leading competitors are doing and who their clients are but ultimately, the type of products and services you provide, your method of delivering those products and services and the customer service and experience that your company presents are the value that personifies your brand and attracts loyal customers. When your response to the competitive landscape guides you to have confidence in your company’s vision and mission and perfect the delivery of what your customers value, you’ll always be positioned to rule the day. Find inspiration in the pointers below.

  • Optimize use of resources Obsessively researching and tracking competitors requires time and energy that may not produce a convincing return on investment. It is prudent to direct valuable (and often limited) resources to factors and events that you can control, rather than attempting to influence that which is beyond reach—that is, the behavior of your competitors. You may discover that adapting your products and/or services to better anticipate and meet the evolving preferences and priorities of your customers and prospects. As well, seek ways to improve your customer service protocols as you enhance your customer experience.
  • Focus on customers not competitors The majority of your marketing focus should be on your target customer groups. Conduct demographic and purchasing history research to update your basic customer knowledge and use the intel to ensure that your marketing tells the story that resonates with customers and prospects because it addresses what they value, want (or will want) and what they’ll pay to have it. Moreover, researching your target customers inadvertently reveals a lot about competitors and what it takes to stay ahead of them.

Taking a balanced approach

As with so much that we do in life, finding the middle ground and achieving balance proves to be the most pragmatic and successful approach. When you remember what is most important you can then set your priorities, direct your resources and become more efficient and successful when managing your business.

  • Your Brand Is Your Competitive Advantage Monitoring the competition should be the second priority behind promoting your brand and delivering what customers value. For service businesses, brand reputation and positive word-of-mouth are among the most powerful competitive advantages. That’s what drives referrals, good reviews and leads to more sales revenue. That’s what you want!
  • Competitive Intel Analyzing competitor’s is the core of competitive intelligence. While 99 % of your business’s day-to-day should be delegated on your own core business development, monthly or quarterly competitive intelligence sessions might be allotted to investigating what your significant competitors are doing. It will be your choice to either respond in kind, or emphasize your corresponding strengths and attempt to prevail that way.
  • Google Alerts You’ll cast a wide net and achieve operational efficiency in your competitive intel research when you automate the process and let the results come to you—and that means setting up Google Alerts as a component of your quest to monitor competitors. Set up by industry keywords, competitors’ names and business names or branded product or service and let Google serves up nearly all the info you’ll need. In the meantime, you can focus most of your time on nurturing and promoting your brand in ways drive home the core mission and positioning.
  • Segment Your Time 80/20 One way to keep the time you spend on each of these essential business functions that teach you how to better regard both customers and competitors is to recognize that once again, The 80/20 Rule, formally known as the Pareto Principle and developed in 1896, will guide the division of your attention and resources. From a pragmatic perspective, it will make sense to spend 80 % of your time working on expanding your brand and enhancing other aspects of your business—operational, financial, marketing, tech—and 20 % of your time researching competitors. Developing goals and an action plan for competitive intel could be very useful and will encourage you to focus and streamline your research efforts.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Cary Chu Photography. Jousters at King Richards Faire in Carver, MA September 17. 2023

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New Regulations Will Impact SMBs in 2024

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As if figuring out how to make a decent profit in 2024 won’t be enough to tie your stomach in knots, the federal government has arranged for the New Year to bring a passel of new regulations for Freelancers and small business owners to grapple with. While it’s true that business and labor regulations are created to promote fair, ethical and legal conduct and working conditions, what it takes to comply can sometimes place a burden on Freelancers and small business owners, who may struggle with the required paperwork, the costs of implementation and, always, the threat of penalties for missing a deadline or failing to comply. But cheer up, my friend, because one of the new rules will give you a spoonful of sugar (thank goodness!). Here’s the who, what, when and why of it all, coming your way.

Corporate transparency

As of January 1, 2024, most small businesses will be required to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with the federal government under the Corporate Transparency Act. The act is intended to increase transparency regarding business ownership and help law enforcement officials discourage the use of shell companies for money laundering, terrorism, fraud, or other illegal activities.

Under the CTA, new and existing businesses that meet the definition of a reporting company must file a BOI Report with the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The report provides information about the identities of the beneficial owners of the business, that is, those who directly or indirectly exercise significant control over the business or own 25% or more of the business. Entities formed on or after January 1, 2024, must also provide “company applicant information” about individuals who file business formation or registration paperwork and will have until January 1, 2025 to file the initial beneficial ownership.

Unless your entity is exempt, all corporations, limited liability companies and other reporting companies must provide the Treasury Department (FinCEN) with info about the beneficial owners, meaning, a list of those who either own or control the company. New businesses are also required to provide info about who prepared and filed the business formation documents. Reporting companies could face civil and criminal penalties if they don’t file the report. While the CTA may seem as if it applies to big corporations, the rule primarily impacts small businesses, including LLCs and S Corps with just one or two owners.

Domestic reporting companies are corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships and other business entities created by filing documents with the secretary of state or similar office, or with a Native American tribe. Foreign reporting companies are businesses formed in a foreign country that have registered to do business in any U.S. state or Native American tribe. A sole proprietorship or informal business partnership is not considered a reporting company and will not have any reporting requirements under the CTA. LLCs, corporations and limited partnerships must file beneficial owner information unless they fall within one of the 23 exemptions listed in the act. Most exemptions apply to larger companies and specific regulated industries, so small businesses and Freelancers who operate as a C Corp, S Corp, LLC, or limited partnership will likely need to file a BOI Report.

Small business loans

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Small Business Lending Rule would require affiliated financial institutions to collect and report data on small business loan applications, including applications from minority-owned and women-owned small businesses. The rule would also create the first comprehensive database of small business credit applications in the United States.

The goal is to create a database similar to what the mortgage industry has. Per the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, banks collect data from residential mortgage applicants that includes geography, race, whether or not the loan was approved and at what interest rate. HMDA data is used by regulators and the public to look for possible signs of mortgage lenders discriminating against borrowers (redlining).

It’s often difficult for small businesses to obtain a loan because there may be scant profit made or an insufficient track record to assure banks of the owner’s ability to repay the loan on schedule. Women and minority-owned businesses especially find it difficult to obtain loans to grow their ventures. To encourage more transparency and equity around business loans, the CFPB in 2023 said it would require banks to begin reporting the demographics and income of small business loan applicants in 2024.

In rebuttal, some small business advocacy organizations claim that CFPB requirements will slow down the loan process and make it still more difficult for small businesses to obtain loans, not easier. Karen Kerrigan, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council President and CEO, says the proposed regulations will “bury small businesses and financial institutions with costly and time-consuming paperwork, expose small-business borrowers and lenders to increased litigation and privacy risks, drive more small banks out of business and limit competition in the financial lending space”.

On October 26, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the CFPB from implementing or enforcing its Small Business Lending Rule, the CFPB has stayed deadlines for compliance with the small business lending rule for the moment. The U.S. Supreme Court may take up the matter, so those of you in search of a business loan may want to follow this issue.

National Labor Relations Board joint-employer rule

Also in October 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued a revised joint employer rule, expanding the definition of “joint employer.” This means that two companies that are both responsible for some decisions about employees—such as a franchisor (entity that holds the trademark and grants license to use the corporate name) and franchisee (owner/operator of one or more individual franchise locations)—can both be held liable for unfair labor practices and the rule goes beyond franchises.

Backstory: in 2019, a group of 1,400 McDonald’s workers filed a lawsuit alleging that their employers had violated California Labor Code wage-and-hour regulations by denying them overtime pay and meal and rest breaks and also forced them to work off the clock. Furthermore, the suit alleged that as “joint employers,” both the Haynes Corporation, the franchisee that owned eight locations in Oakland and San Leandro, and the franchisor, McDonald’s, were responsible. Although the employees and Haynes reached a class-wide settlement, the court ruled that McDonald’s was not responsible, since it isn’t involved in “day-to-day operations” of the restaurants, despite them carrying the McDonald’s name. But on October 26, 2023, the NLRB issued a clarification of the joint employer rule, deciding that both franchisors and franchisees can be held liable for unfair labor practices and labor law can no longer insulate corporate franchisors from liability for what goes on at individual franchise locations.

Unions and workers’ groups say the new rule will benefit and help protect workers, but restaurant associations and other small business advocacy groups say it’s unfairly burdensome to owners. The rule was scheduled to go into effect on December 26, 2023 but pending Congressional and legal challenges, the NLRB extended the effective date of the new joint-employer rule to February 26, 2024.

Wages and overtime

Maybe you own a seasonal business and hire minimum wage employees to keep things going during the busy season? If so, you already know that hourly wages are rising and in fact, more than 20 states will have minimum wage increases in 2024, including Nebraska’s minimum wage increase of $1.50 to $12/hour on January 1, 2024, and Rhode Island’s increase of $1 to $14/hour.

There could be still more action on wages coming soon—in August 2023, the Department of Labor proposed a rule that would allow 3.6 million more workers to become eligible to receive overtime pay. The proposed regulation would require employers to pay overtime to salaried workers who are in executive, administrative and professional roles and earn less than $1,059 a week, $55,068 /year, as full-time employees. That annual salary threshold was increased from $35,568.

Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO of the SBE Council (and who also opposed collecting demographic info on small business loan applicants, as discussed above) said she expects that when the final rule is handed down it will face legal challenges, since raising the minimum wage would have a big impact on many businesses. The Labor Department may issue the final rule sometime in 2024. Kerrigan said, “That’s going to have a lot of disruption for small businesses in terms of cost, but also the models they may use in their workplace in terms of career growth models, compensation models, etc.”

$600 online payments reprieve

I’ve saved the best for last! In November 2023, the Internal Revenue Service for the second time delayed activating the requirement that payments of $600 or more for goods and/or services provided by you and sent to you via Third-Party Settlement Organizations, e.g. payment apps like Venmo and Zelle or online marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy, must be reported on IRS Form 1099-K as taxable income. The requirement was scheduled to go live in tax year 2023.

Instead, the IRS has instituted a threshold of $5,000 for tax year 2024 that will introduce a phase-in of what will eventually include the Form 1099-K $600 reporting trigger for TPSO payments received. The IRS in November 2023 said that in tax year 2023, 1099-K reporting will continue to be required only of Freelancers and others who received $20,000 or more in annual gross TPSO payments for 200 or more sales transactions in that year. Beginning in tax year 2024, the TPSO annual gross payments threshold for Form 1099-K reporting will be lowered to $5,000. 

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Update: In response to a suit brought by the National Small Business Association against the Treasury Department, the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Alabama ruled on March 1, 2024 that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional. Presiding Judge Liles Burke granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and issued a permanent injunction after finding that the CTA “exceed[ed] the Constitution’s limits on the legislative branch and lacks a sufficient nexus to any enumerated power to be a necessary or proper means of achieving Congress’ policy goals.” The ruling was handed down only two months after the CTA went into effect on January 1, 2024 and an appeal by the Biden administration is expected.

Image: © (Getty Images) James Stewart (R), as a caring community activist, points at Lionel Barrymore (L), a “greed is good” style real estate baron and banker, in a scene from It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, produced and directed by Frank Capra).

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First Up for 2024: Get A Tagline!

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As you brainstorm ways you might market your business in 2024—content you’ll produce, an updated list of keywords you’ll add to your website and social media, the panels, podcasts and webinars you’d like to appear on, the guerilla marketing campaign that might grow your customer list—you may eventually get the bright idea to create a tagline. A tagline, also known as a company slogan, may not receive priority status as you consider marketing strategies and tactics; however, you know that dozens of powerful taglines have figured prominently in the marketing campaigns of companies they represent, companies that billions of Americans and others have used for decades.

A clever and appealing tagline can become enormously popular and go on to play a role in popular culture, as it encourages current and prospective customers to use and refer the products or services it represents. Developing an effective tagline will strike a personal or even emotional chord in current and prospective customers that moves them to perceive your brand as more than just another provider of goods and services.

The tagline defined

So, what is a tagline? It’s a short, memorable phrase or sentence that sums up the essence of a company brand, products and/or services. A good tagline succinctly distills and communicates what the brand aspires to be known for and what differentiates it from competitors. It is influenced by the company vision and/or mission statement, as well as the value proposition and brand reputation but rather than presenting a lengthy and ponderous statement to describe the company, the tagline wraps those serious intentions in one brief and catchy phrase that keeps the company at top-of-mind mind for future buying decisions by reminding customers and prospects why they should choose to do business there.

A tagline can even become synonymous with the brand. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee elegantly captured the strength, athletic prowess and engaging personality of boxer Muhammed Ali (ne Cassius Clay, 1942-2016) and stands as a brilliant example of an ideal tagline.

What makes a good tagline?

A tagline can be a powerful marketing tool and although it will most likely take time to create the right one for your entity, it could be well worth the effort. It would be best to use your tagline to identify what your business does and highlight its benefits to current and prospective customers. Why not create a rough draft and keep the following in mind as you brainstorm possibilities?

  • Brief: Your tagline doesn’t need to cover every aspect of the business or explain your company values. It should be brief, unambiguous in describing the essence of the business, likeable and easy to remember.
  • Clear: Creativity makes your tagline unique, but you don’t want to be so creative that the intended audience misses the point. The wording must be clear, concise and immediately understood.
  • Memorable: Since the best taglines have but a few words, make every word count. Your tagline should be memorable for its creativity, uniqueness, or other positive aspect that inclines customers and prospects to remember and like it.
  • Reps the brand: The tagline should communicate the core of the brand identity. It should succinctly convey the brand image and voice, whether that’s upscale and formal or frugal and casual.
  • Customer-centric: While the tagline refers to the company, its focus should be on the customer and what the company can do for them, for example, save time and/or money, be trustworthy and dependable, give great service, or be convenient. “Have it your way.” (Burger King)
  • Relatable: A successful tagline has a personal appeal and speaks to the customer on an emotional level as it expresses the benefits of what the company’s products and/or services can do for them.

Short and simple

An effective tagline is direct and to the point, brief, uncomplicated, engaging and easily remembered. Aim to use no more than 10 words. A good tagline rolls off the tongue, is properly descriptive of the company’s purpose or benefits and is easy to remember. A useful way to test your tagline in development is to ask your friends, family or even new acquaintances and ask whether they understand what your company does and their overall impression of its message. “I ❤️NY” (Empire State Development Services)

Relevant to customers and prospects

The best taglines are about the customer, not about the company. A tagline focused on your company could possibly cause customers to wonder how it relates to them. By focusing on current and would-be customers, you’ll more effectively promote brand recognition and loyalty. Be sure to incorporate your company’s brand voice and persona. Avoid making promises in their tagline, which will put the focus on the company, and emphasize benefits instead. “Breakfast of champions” (Wheaties breakfast cereal)

Make your tagline match your brand

A tagline, like a logo, helps to define your brand. Ensure that the style, brand voice and other elements of your tagline match the style, voice and other aspects of your logo design. Because your tagline will be part of your overall branding, you’ll want the tagline to reflect your company’s personality. “Where’s the beef?” (Wendy’s)

Who’s your competition?

Knowing your competition is an important consideration of effective marketing. Study the marketing tactics used by your most prominent direct competitors and examine their taglines for both inspiration and to understand what not to do. Use the marketing of competitors to identify the elements of your company that differentiate it from the three or four who are closest. This could refer to the customer service, customer experience, and/or the comprehensiveness of your products and services (e.g., one-stop shopping) that differentiates and would be advantageous to convey in your tagline. Ensure your tagline sounds distinct from your competitors and larger brands around the country that your customers are likely to know as you communicate your competitive advantage and value proposition. “We try harder” (Avis Car Rental)

How you help customers

Think about how your company or products and services help your customers. How do your solutions solve or avoid problems, help achieve objectives, or make life easier and more enjoyable? Make a list of the ways you provide tangible and intangible benefits to customers, as well as any statements your business makes relating to them.

If your business is growing, consider your entire range of services or products. What value are you delivering to your customers? Think about what your products mean to people in their day-to-day lives, and list all the positive adjectives you can think of that relate to the core promise. “It keeps going and going and going…” (Energizer batteries)

Positive vibe

A considerable body of research shows that negative statements generally don’t sell well, whereas positive messages are conducive to brand building over the long term. Because taglines reflect the brand over time, keep your tagline positive and focused on benefits that customers seek out, depend on and appreciate. Avoid a vague reference to the good things that your company provides and make it unabashedly specific, descriptive of what drives your customers do business with you. “Yes we can” (2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign)

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Survey: Freelancing in America 2023

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Upwork, the global marketplace that connects businesses in need of capable and reliable Freelance professionals and talented independent workers who are looking to generate billable hours, has just released the results of “Freelance Forward: 2023,” the 10th annual comprehensive study of the U.S. independent workforce. The study found that 64 million Americans participated in Freelance work during the past year, adding 4 million more self-employed workers over 2022. Freelance workers now comprise 38% of the nation’s workforce and contributed nearly $1.27 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2023.

Highly skilled professionals

Most Freelancers perform highly skilled professional work. Nearly half (47%) work in the knowledge economy and provide B2B services such as computer programming, marketing, IT, graphic arts and business consulting. Another 23% of Freelancers create influencer and other marketing content that fuels livestreams, social media videos and images, blogs and newsletters. 

Freelancers are also at the forefront of embracing new technologies. When asked about generative Artificial Intelligence use in the past three months, Freelancers were 2.2 times more than traditionally employed workers to say that they frequently use generative AI tools. In total, 20%, approximately 12.8 million Freelancers, use generative AI tools regularly (multiple times per week), compared to just 9% of traditionally employed professionals. When asked the functions for which Freelancers use generative AI, research (46%), brainstorming and ideation (35%), translation (33%), proposal writing (32%) and coding (28%) ranked at the top. 

Why we Freelance

Results of Freelance Forward studies produced over the the study’s 10 year history show that respondents enter Freelancing for various reasons, but flexibility and control consistently emerge as prime motivators. Beyond earning a living, when asked about reasons for Freelancing, “to have flexibility in my schedule,” “to be in control of my own financial future” and “to work from the location of my choosing” top the list. This is mainly because unlike traditional employees, whose work schedules are largely imposed by the company, Freelancers are our own bosses. We determine when, where and for whom we will work and therefore, we are able to control our schedules and lives.

The evidence of this freedom is apparent in where Freelancers perform our work. Although return-to-office mandates have brought many professionals back to their cubicle, the majority of Freelancers work from home, at a co-working space, or in another location of their choosing. In fact, 60% of Freelancers work remotely, as compared to just 32% of traditionally employed professionals who work remotely. Furthermore, Freelancers also choose the hours and amount of work they’ll do at a given time. While 77% of Freelancers say they work consistently, they do so based on a schedule that best suits their lifestyles.

The future is Freelance

Freelancing continues to grow as a viable career choice for professionals and according to survey participants, the future of Freelancing remains bright. To understand the future of Freelancing, survey respondents were asked to assess their feelings of optimism, or pessimism, ahead of 2024. Overwhelmingly, Freelancers are optimistic about prospects for their professional growth (80%), personal income and revenue increases (76%), opportunities to earn billable hours (74%) and personal development (84%). When asked about the future, 85% of Freelancers say the best days for Freelancing are ahead. Key findings of Freelance Forward 2023 include:

  • Freelancing remains a significant part of the U.S. labor market and economy: Freelancers contributed $1.27 trillion in annual earnings to the U.S. economy in 2023. This was a 78% increase from the estimated $715 billion contributed to the economy in 2014, the first year of Freelance Forward.
  • Freelancing hits a new all-time high: The number of professionals Freelancing increased to 64 million Americans, or 38% of the U.S workforce, an increase of 4 million from 2022.
  • Freelancers are 2.2 times more likely to regularly use generative AI frequently in their work: 20% of Freelancers use generative AI tools on a regular basis (multiple times per week), which compares to just 9% of traditionally employed professionals.
  • Nearly half of Freelancers provide skilled knowledge services: 47% of all Freelancers, or nearly 30 million professionals, provided knowledge services such as computer programming, marketing, IT, and business consulting in 2023.
  • A quarter of Freelancers are creating influencer-style content: 23% of all Freelancers, or 14.7 million professionals, created influencer content including livestream services, social media videos, images or blogs in 2023.
  • Generation Z and Millennials are the most likely to explore Freelancing: In 2023, 52% of all Gen Z professionals and 44% of all Millennial professionals performed Freelance work.
  • Older Americans continue to be part of the Freelance market: In 2023, nearly 8.3 million professionals, or 13% of all U.S. Freelancers, were aged 59 or above.
  • The future is bright, according to Freelancers: Over 85% of Freelancers say the best days are ahead for Freelancing.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Frontal Lobe Coworking, located in the Nationally Registered historic downtown of Howell, MI, opened in 2013 with the intention of attracting workers to a shared office space while also utilizing empty downtown buildings.

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Think, Plan, Do: How to Think and Act Strategically

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By now, I’m certain you’ve figured out that life is a game of chance that’s impacted by luck (good or bad) and planning (strategy or happenstance). You cannot really “make your own luck” (only lucky people think you can), but by thinking strategically and implementing your strategies, you’ll be able to influence certain variables that may tip the outcome in your favor.

Strategic thinking is an essential skill that promotes success both in the business world and in your personal life. Business owners and leaders rely on strategic thinking to make informed decisions and plan for the future, to promote innovation, respond to changes in the marketplace and recognize good opportunities. Strategic thinking depends on reliable information that you’ll analyze to identify the potential outcomes of a decision and ensure that decisions align with your company’s long-term goals. Strategic thinking can begin when you address three basic questions:

  • Where are you now in terms of achieving your preferred outcome (the goal, success)?
  • Where do you want to be (the preferred outcome)?
  • What actions will you take to bring about your preferred outcome?

Rich Horwath, author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Strategic: The Skill to Set Direction, Create Advantage and Achieve Executive Excellence (November 2023) and founder and CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute, a strategy workshop facilitator where he is an executive coach and strategic advisor, defines strategic thinking as the ability to Think, Plan and Do. Horwath believes that strategic thinking leads to insights that allow us to recognize or create competitive advantages that lead to success. His coaching experience has shown him that strategic thinking can be learned, that we can assess our own strategic fitness level and apply the skill to create value for the business.

Acumen

Howath points to acumen, the way you think, as the basis of strategic thinking, along with context awareness, insight and innovation. Acumen gives you the ability to size up a situation, see the big picture and generate new ideas that move the organization from its current state to your preferred future. The components he assigns to acumen work in tandem and are what separate strategic thinkers from the rest:

  • Context awareness—informs your vision of the big picture and reflects your understanding of both your internal situation (culture, purpose, processes, guiding principles) and external situation (market trends, customer behavior, competitive landscape, business conditions). This awareness and perception informs your choices to allocate the resources you’ll use as your pursue your goals.
  • Insight —the ability to learn and draw conclusions, however preliminary, from current conditions and past experiences. This requires curiosity and an exploratory mindset. A key trait of strategic thinkers is their discipline to continuously record, categorize, share and reflect on insights.
  • Innovation —can occur when you focus your awareness and insights to create new value. It typically generated by the brainstorming or problem-solving involved in overcoming a challenge or obstacle.

To evaluate your acumen, ask yourself:

  • Do I regularly assess my business’s current situation, both from both the internal and external perspectives?
  • Do I share valuable insights with my team?
  • When problem-solving, do I stick to the tried-and-true, or do I look for new approaches?

Allocation

Howath sees allocation as how you plan. Strategic thinkers set goals, distribute resources, recognize the risk and tradeoffs when making decisions and create advantages that bring value. Where you invest your resources — time, talent and capital — is a primary driver of your effectiveness and it requires the following components:

  • Ability to focus resources: Resources are usually limited and should be used judiciously in service to achieving your goals. An effective strategy involves the ability to focus resources, confirming that resources are sufficient to produce the desired impact and confirming how the resource should be applied to achieve the desired effect.
  • Decision-making: Strategic thinkers generate and evaluate a range of viable alternatives. Since trade-offs are being made with each decision, they analyze the pros and cons of each alternative, as well as the level of acceptable risk.
  • Competitive advantage: A competitive advantage is created when the value created by your resources and actions exceeds the value that prospective customers assign to your competitors. Once an advantage is attained, strategic thinkers continue to refine it in order to stay ahead of the competition.

To evaluate whether you allocate effectively, ask yourself:

  1. Do I recognize when it’s time to redistribute resources from underperforming areas to projects that show more potential?
  2. Do I spend time on activities that align with my goals?
  3. How do I measure myself against the competitors?

Action

Action is what you do, that is, carrying out your plans. Preparing a business strategy is but one step; how you execute your strategies is pivotal to your success. Action requires the ability to collaborate with others and optimize your performance.

  • Execution involves using your resources to achieve your goal. It requires focus, discipline and follow-through, as well as monitoring to ensure interim results and a contingency plan to salvage a plan that fails to produce the expected result.

To assess your ability to take action, ask yourself:

  • When it comes time to implement a strategy, how prepared am I to take action?
  • Do I ask others what their goals are at the beginning of the conversation?
  • Do I easily get side-tracked by other obstacles along the way?

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Jackie Gleason as a fictional pool hustler in The Hustler (1961).

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Subscription Model Spotlight

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The subscription-based business model is an American classic. From the newspaper that the neighborhood paperboy delivered every day to your parent’s house, to the magazines you looked forward to receiving from the mailman each month and, of course, the Book-of-the-Month Club, founded in 1926 and enjoyed by your grandparents, millions have bought subscriptions over the years. We trust the process.

As the e-commerce revolution lured millions of newspaper, magazine and book readers to digital formats and software as a service (SaaS) introduced a menu of business services that make back-office operations much faster and efficient, the number of products and services available by subscription has exploded. There are now hundreds of subscription-based businesses to indulge you, from cable TV and movies to goodie gift boxes for you (Hot Sauce of the Month Club) and your dog (Barkbox).

Subscriptions are the original recurring revenue business model, able to bring a fairly predictable amount of money into a business at predetermined intervals, making subscriptions adored by business owners (and increasingly, Freelancers). Customers also appreciate subscriptions: they make obtaining frequently used products or services more convenient and often less costly, since there is almost always a discount offered as compared to the price of a one-off item. Plus, time is saved and inconvenience spared when there is no need to repeatedly make purchases; a subscription guarantees that your order is complete and payment settled just once a year and renewed annually as desired (and sometimes renewed automatically, which means you do nothing beyond reading the renewal confirmation if no changes will be made).

What’s not to love? Monthly (or annually or quarterly) recurring revenue represents predictable cash-flow and every business owner wants it. The smartest, most forward-thinking business owners and leaders, including Freelancers, are brainstorming ways to integrate a subscription service into their company’s offerings. The good news is that the acceptance level of subscriptions in the general population makes it relatively easy to persuade prospective customers to buy. Persuading subscribers to renew the deal, however, can be another kettle of fish.

So, if the idea of selling your products or services by subscription comes to mind, first ask yourself which of your products or services customers regularly purchase throughout the year but might prefer to order and pay for just once a year and save themselves time and money? Float the idea with two or three of your steady customers and heed the reply. Adopting a subscription model requires serious forethought and planning and this is especially true for many B2B service businesses, where value is intangible and not always immediately recognized. For example, the value of software subscriptions is continually demonstrated with tangible and actionable information that’s generated on a regular basis and by frequent use of the platform by the customer. The value of leadership and Emotional Intelligence coaching, however, can be less immediately obvious.

Subscription business model experts reveal two critical success factors—perceived value and the subscriber experience. Regarding value, subscribers accept a recurring subscription fee when the product or service subscribed to consistently demonstrates its worth. Should the subscriber feel that s/he is not receiving value that justifies the subscription cost, the possibility of service cancellation is imminent. The benefits derived from the product or service subscribed to must be front and center in the subscriber’s mind. S/he must clearly witness or perceive the expected value, preferably through a noticeable, if not measurable, improvement in whatever need the service or product addresses.

Regarding the subscriber experience, quality control and the consistency of the expected outcomes delivered by the product or service are key. There is an ongoing need to maintain, and periodically upgrade, the subscriber service and experience delivered. Subscribers tend to expect service enhancements at regular intervals. Suggestions of other critical factors you may want to examine as you and your team evaluate the potential viability of a subscription model for one or more of your products or services are below:

1. Is the subscription model is right for your business?

 As noted above, do yourself a favor and confirm that enough of your customers will feel it advantageous to commit in advance to the purchase of one or more of your company’s products and/or services by subscription. Is it important to customers to reorder what you sell on an ongoing basis, or are sales typically intermittent or even one-off? Discuss with your accountant the amount of monthly subscription revenue needed to make offering subscriptions feasible for your entity. If you get a green light to move forward, it will then be necessary to develop strategies that promote and defend subscription revenue and minimize subscriber churn (i.e., cancellations). Be prepared to develop marketing campaigns that describe to current and prospective customers how buying your product or service as a subscription service will make life easier or doing business more cost-effective for them.

2. Subscription or retainer fee?

Even if you do a steady business with a certain client, for example, providing payroll solutions or website maintenance and security, a retainer agreement may be more appropriate than a subscription (both generate recurring revenue). A retainer fee is a fixed amount of money that a customer pays to a company/consultant in advance and for a specific period of time, typically, a month, quarter, or year. The retainer fee covers an agreed-upon scope of work or number of hours that the company/consultant agrees to provide to the customer. The customer can use the consultant’s services as needed, up to the limit of the retainer agreement. If the customer does not use all of the hours or services included in the retainer, the consultant still keeps the entire fee; if the customer exceeds that limit, the consultant can charge extra fees or negotiate a new retainer.

A subscription fee is a recurring fee that a subscriber pays to a company/consultant for access to a predefined service or product. The subscription fee is billed monthly, quarterly, or annually and the subscriber can cancel (sometimes) or renew the subscription at any time (usually toward the end of the billing period). The subscription grants access to the product or service, which the subscriber can use as desired. The consultant/company provides the product or service on a continuing basis or provides access to an online platform or membership access site.

3. Try before buy 

Consider offering a short free trial to allow prospective subscribers to experience the advantages of subscribing to your product or service—first month free, for example. Tempting current customers and prospects with a sample of your subscription service could convince a number of them to sign up and pay. Furthermore, you’ll make subscribing still more attractive when their pricing options are uncomplicated. Offer one standard monthly (or quarterly or annual) fee; if you also sell premium and/or economy versions of your product or service, price those subscriptions accordingly.

4. Set clear expectations:

Set clear expectations from the start of the subscriber relationship. Customers must understand what they’ll receive for the price they’ll pay–services, products, tools and/or supporting technologies. Subscriber info should walk customers through what the subscription offers, the level of support available from your team and company contact info.  Ensure that prospective subscribers fully understand the value they’ll receive, tangible (the product or service) and intangible (training, additional info and/or support).

5. Discounts for longer-term subscriptions

The monthly fee should reward longer subscription commitments—24 or 36 months, for example—with correspondingly progressive discounts. While some subscribers desire only short-term use, others will use your product or service basically forever. By offering subscribers a variety of subscription options and offering deeper discounts to those who agree to pay upfront for long-term commitments, you’ll have a better chance of attracting more subscribing customers and increasing recurring revenue.

6. Easy or automatic renewing

The subscription model is an excellent vehicle for customer retention, but your organization must implement strategies to further remind subscribing customers of its relevance to them and provide various incentives for renewing the subscription. Make renewing frictionless and enable subscribers to auto-renew (with an opt-out option). When you make renewal easy for subscribers, they’re more inclined to do so.

7. Quality control and customer experience

Subscriber satisfaction is not to be taken lightly; it is never a given. Ideally, you’ll find it in your budget to assign or hire (W2 or 1099) a subscriber experience specialist who will be responsible for ensuring that expectations are met. That person will also document and report on the turnaround time for resolving issues, as well as any recurring problems. Proper quality control offers you much-needed insight into subscriber concerns, which will drive ongoing service enhancements and continue to enhance subscription value. 

Furthermore, marketing experts have convincingly demonstrated that personalized communication is a deciding factor in reducing churn, building loyalty and re-engaging lapsed customers/subscribers. Your organization should collect as much subscriber data as possible and apply that info to generating email updates and personalized special offers that aim to encourage renewals. The goal is to maintain subscriber enthusiasm and reinforce the convenience, enjoyment and/or habit of subscribing. You want to avoid disengagement, complacency, or other dissatisfaction that may result in a lapsed subscriber.

8. Don’t skimp on packaging

If your subscription is a physical product, invest in premium packaging. With all due respect to the U.S. Postal Service, your product deserves better packaging than a flat rate priority box. While your physical product will require shipping, it is highly recommended that you avoid the temptation to save money by packing and mailing yourself. Instead, find a fulfillment house and outsource packing and shipping.

Your logistics provider will fulfill subscription orders for your product, packing and shipping those orders directly to subscribers in a way that effectively communicates the value of your brand and enhances the subscriber experience. The fulfillment center will also manage product inventory and store the inventory.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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“Upload Photo Here” B2B Gets Personal

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Creating B2B marketing content that brings in leads and builds your brand is a real challenge! Bound by (real or imagined) expectations to appear “business-like,” B2B content creators are known to merely deliver the info that decision-makers need—the what, why, when, by whom and how a product or service is used, topped off with a serviceable call-to-action. The particulars will be in there but the end result is usually content that’s dry and impersonal. It doesn’t reach out and touch, it checks off the boxes.

If developing B2B marketing content is your responsibility, keep in mind that the decision-makers you aspire to influence are actually human. They laugh, they get bored, get frustrated, curious and (sometimes) inspired. They are busy, if not overwhelmed, and it takes something special to get their attention and win their trust. Your target audience responds best to content that is fresh, unexpected and shows that you understand what’s important to them.

Maybe you’re ahead of me and already have a guerilla marketing campaign in the works, as was discussed in last week’s post? But once the guerilla sizzle has grabbed audience attention, back it up and bring the steak. Your next move is to convert the buzz into confidence and trust that leads to loyal relationships. You achieve that by knowing your clients and using that knowledge to develop content and other means of communication that demonstrates you have their priorities and needs on your front burner. Below are factors to keep in mind and actions you may decide to take as you re-examine your B2B marketing strategy and prepare your organization for the start of a new year.

Personalized customer profiles

To figure out how to sell your products and/or services, you must know the goals and priorities of your prospects and have an idea of what might worry them, too. Accurate and updated client information is among your most valuable resources; data can be collected in quick-and-easy, nonthreatening ways, on your website or social media platforms. In exchange for a prospect’s name, contact info, business name and category, you may offer free 15 minute video consultations, free copies of your case study, or a free link to the webinar on which you made a guest appearance info. Inbound marketing tactics, spotlighted by a tempting call-to-action, not only moves prospects through the sales funnel, it also functions as a portal for client info.

Beyond basic contact info, a review of previous client or prospect interactions with your company will reveal more detailed info, including the purchasing history of current and lapsed clients, their buying preferences, concerns and the amount they spend. Get to know your target audience by understanding their unique preferences and help yourself to retain clients, make more sales and reduce churn rate. Clients and prospects are what a mailing list is all about; it’s members represent potential sales revenue for your company. Consider the following questions as you build customer profiles.

  • Who is a window shopper and who is researching with a goal of buying? Have you designed a “try before you buy” option available to undecideds, or is it effective to initiate a face2face or video meeting to show undecideds how your solution will solve problems and achieve objectives that matter to them?
  • Who are they buying for? Is the prospect an end-user and stakeholder, who influences the purchasing decision, or is the decision-maker, who may not directly use the product or service, doing the shopping?
  • After they complete a purchase, what kind of follow-up support, including info on the optimal use of the product or implementation of a service, would the new client appreciate?

Purpose-driven content

Companies are re-evaluating how they deliver their marketing messages and many now feel that creating purpose-driven marketing content is integral to being seen as relevant to potential buyers. The more you know about the goals and buying behaviors of your prospects, the more successful you’ll become in selling to them. You want information that guides you to describe, price, deliver and provide after-sale support for your product or service in words and actions that are quickly understood and strike the right chords with the target audience and in so doing, earn their trust and confidence. Consider the three phases of the buyer’s journey:

  • Discovery phase: What do prospects see when they conduct a Google search of your entity? What links appear in the results and what story is told about your products/ services and brand?
  • Consideration phase: How is your company represented when a prospect or client engages with your social media and other content? What platform links, articles, images and websites appear?
  • Conversion phase: How does your brand show up when a client transacts business on your website? What action do you want your client to take beyond making a one-time purchase?

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © The Richard Avedon Foundation. Supermodel China Machado (born Noelie da Souza,1929-2016), photographed by Richard Avedon in New York, NY for the November 6, 1958 cover of Time Magazine’s 100 Women of the Year issue.

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Guerilla Marketing Playbook

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Have your marketing strategies and tactics become stale and predictable? Do you tell yourself not to rock the boat because what you’re doing seems to be OK, even though you get a nagging “been there, done that” feeling when you click and post marketing content? Listen to your inner voice! It’s telling you that outdated marketing tactics will not deliver the results your organization needs. While there’s no shame if the menu at your restaurant features a couple of grandma’s recipes from World War II because customers love them, the ways you communicate with those nostalgic customers must be in step with the here and now. You may have gotten comfortable with the marketing tactics you’ve been using for the past few years and your customers may be comfortable, too—and that’s exactly why it’s time to stir the pot and shake things up!

Even before the pandemic shutdown pulled the rug out from under us, companies large and small, local and global, B2B and B2C, have experienced intense competition, mixed with political, economic and social instability. Forbes Magazine recently introduced the acronym VUCA—Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous—to describe the current economic landscape. Freelancers and small business owners are especially vulnerable to unstable circumstances. Well-chosen marketing strategies, executed proactively, are integral to your company’s survival.

Guerilla marketing playbook

Like grandma’s century old recipes that are still beloved by many, another 20th century throwback that can be adapted to the 21st is Guerilla Marketing, a term coined by the business writer and advertising executive Jay Conrad Levinson in 1984. Guerilla Marketing borrows the mindset of guerrilla warfare, the Spanish term for a band of soldiers who wage war not as part of the regular troops but as an independent unit that makes surprise raids behind enemy lines and attacks larger, better-funded forces.

Guerilla marketing campaigns use innovative, unconventional promotional marketing tactics whose goal is to shock, surprise and ultimately delight the audience. When at their best, guerilla marketing campaigns are memorable and known to drive (good) publicity and brand awareness. Guerilla-style campaigns are often relatively low-cost and have been used successfully by Freelancers and neighborhood businesses, as well as multinational conglomerates. Below are suggestions for guerilla marketing tactics you may want to consider:

  • Grassroots Marketing A marketing approach that relies on modest resources. Companies that utilize grassroots marketing strategies typically rely on frugal tactics that depend on people’s time. Recruiting friends and family to hand out flyers that announce the opening of a new business in the neighborhood is a classic example of this type of guerilla marketing. The technique is marketing at its most simplistic.
  • Viral or Buzz Marketing A strategy based partly or entirely on word-of-mouth publicity. The word spreads by way of social media, as this guerilla tactic relies on one user sharing a company’s content with those in his/her social network. Instead of trying to generate excitement by itself, viral/ buzz guerrilla marketing relies on enthusiastic fans or customers to organically raise awareness of a product or service, entertainer or business.
  • Projection advertising This guerilla tactic refers to the big-screen projection of large, captivating advertising images onto the sides of buildings or other walls. This style of guerrilla marketing allows companies to personalize promotions, especially for events. Instead of presenting a more permanent form of advertising that requires capital investments or long-term agreements, projection advertising is highly visible, unconventional and unexpected and may be less costly than marketing techniques that would otherwise be used.
  • Ambush Marketing Large sporting events and concerts are favorite locations for unauthorized guerilla marketing “ambush” campaigns. Companies that use this strategy, also known as coat-tail marketing, and are sometimes assumed to be official event sponsors although they are not. Popular within event sponsorships, ambush marketing may be employed as a guerrilla marketing strategy by companies looking to save money as they capitalize on a well-attended event that is occurring.

Solutions that matter 

Regardless of how you shape your company’s marketing campaigns, it’s essential that you understand what customers are looking to achieve or resolve when they do business with you (or others like you). With the knowledge of what customers prioritize and value, you’ll know what creates demand—and that means half of your marketing job is done. You can then create a theme with talking points and images that communicate the solution your audience wants. If you can also place your marketing text and images in an unexpected location (maybe outdoors) that your audience frequents, and keep the costs down as you do, you will have realized the essence of guerilla marketing.

What’s in it for the customer?

Unexpected turns of phrase or doubles-entendres may stroke your sense of creativity, but remember that the purpose of marketing messages, whether you go guerilla or conventional, is to inform (and reassure and reinforce) your audience that your product or service will solve a problem and achieve the objective, whether you’re selling gardening gloves or cashmere sweaters. Your text must succinctly, clearly and perhaps also cleverly, answer the question that customers and prospects silently ask—“What’s in it for me if I buy this”?

Make sure they get the message.

It’s been said that one picture is worth 1,000 words and there’s no doubt that the image(s) used in your campaign can get attention—but don’t let images overwhelm the message you intend to communicate. All marketing thrives on creativity, but don’t allow the artwork to over-shadow the product. The marketer’s goal is to persuade the audience to feel that the product or service being showcased so interesting that s/he desires to buy it.

 Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: The Richard Oscar Burgess House in Providence, RI is best known for its head-turning design created in 1984 by The Armory Revival Company. By leaving a section of the house only partially painted and attaching large simulations of Crayola crayons on the wall, the house is both a marvelous spoof of the obsession about paint color that not infrequently preoccupies new owners of Victorian-era homes and a celebration of mid-1980s urban revitalization.

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10 Under $35: Great Client Gifts 2023

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You can run, but you can’t hide! The December holidays are at your doorstep and asking you to respond accordingly. Yes, it is a chore, and you’ll spend some money, but look at the bright side—-the holidays are much more than a gift-giving obligation. Recognize that the December holidays are your best client outreach and relationship-building opportunity of the year. So if you neglected to include current or lapsed clients on the mailing list for your blog or website, or you hesitated because you worried about looking crass, and decided against including clients when you announced that you’d appear on a podcast or would teach a social media marketing class, your opportunity to rectify that oversight has arrived. December is your gateway to redemption, your big chance to show clients that you remember and value them.

The holiday gifts you send, and to a lesser extent the holiday cards you send, give you entree to reach out in January and diplomatically float the idea of receiving an assignment in the New Year. Reach out with a conversation-starting topic that might persuade your client to schedule a voice, video, or face2face meeting so that you can assess and suggest how your products or services can provide solutions that achieve the client’s objectives. After all, the reason that your client gifts and cards qualify as business expenses is because you’re spending money to support the goal of making more.

Below is my 2023 list of business-appropriate, cost-conscious holiday gifts and I hope you like what you see. Every vendor is different, but you can expect your gifts to arrive on time if you ship before December 10 (that date also applies to the cards you’ll send, whether or not a gift will also be sent). Shop on Black Friday (November 24) and Small Business Saturday (November 25) to catch the sales and get more for your money. Be advised that Christmas falls on the fourth Monday and some offices may be closed on Friday December 22, maybe until Tuesday January 2.

1. Dossier Fragrances

Dossier, the luxury fragrance maker, recently launched its third line of scents: the Wellness Collection. The new line includes sage and black tea, rose and basil, ginger and grapefruit scents that serve as a “sensory gateway, inviting you to embark on a fragrant journey toward balance, serenity, and rejuvenation,” says CEO Sergio Tache.

The Wellness Collection will refresh, re-energize, and rejuvenate, giving you aromatic therapy through fragrance for a heightened scent-sory experience. The Speakeasy Collection is crafted with celebration in mind and captures all the bubbly, warm, or even smoky sensations that come with every sip– or in this case, spritz!

Dossier Originals
$29 each

2. The Weekender Dopp Kit

A rugged, classic pouch to keep all your toiletries in order. Outside, it’s built from heavyweight cotton canvas that will take anything your trip can dish out. Inside the sturdy metal zipper, there’s an additional internal zipper pocket and elastic loops to secure your stuff.

https://www.bespokepost.com/store/line-of-trade-weekender-dopp-kit?clickId=0oizTcy5fxyPUBdy6FSGNz3uUkFVy91Px0Jk2U0&a=m_10078&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=IR&utm_campaign=0oizTcy5fxyPUBdy6FSGNz3uUkFVy91Px0Jk2U0&utm_content=Skimbit%20Ltd.&nb_adid=70438&nb_cid=1804&nb_pid=10078&nb_aname=Online%20Tracking%20Link&nb_atype=ONLINE_TRACKING_LINK&nb_asize=&nb_product_sku=&nb_partner_name=Skimbit%20Ltd.&nb_mtype=mediapartner&nb_partner_shared_id=thespruce.com&nb_platform=impact
$35 each

3. Jiminy’s Doggie Dental Chews

Dog owners adore gifts that have their furry friend in mind! Here is a multi-purpose, cinnamon-flavored chew designed to clean teeth, freshen dog breath and reduce oral inflammation while the chew’s flexible, nubby texture cleans teeth and gums. Cruelty-free superfood ingredients make Jiminy’s Dental Chews the sustainable choice for the health of your dog and our planet. The chews come in four sizes. Jiminy’s dog treats and dog food are also available.

https://www.chewy.com/jiminys-grain-free-cricket-cookie/dp/205078

$9.95 each 5 oz. bag

4. The Pasta Queen Cookbook


TikTok star and social media sensation Nadia Caterina Munno, a.k.a. The Pasta Queen, is opening the recipe box from her online trattoria to share the dishes that have made her pasta royalty. In this delectable antipasto platter of over 100 recipes, cooking techniques, and the tales behind Italy’s most famous dishes (some true, some not-so-true), Nadia guides you through the process of creating the perfect pasta, from Pasta Al Limone to Fettucine Carbonara. The book was a New York Times bestseller. See reader reviews here https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60321510-the-pasta-queen

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pasta-queen-nadia-caterina-munno/1140976219?ean=9781982195151

$23.99 hard cover

5. Lapgear Tablet Pillow

An unique, triangular-shaped bolster pillow that has a reinforced front pocket that holds your tablet or phone at optimal screen viewing angles, allowing for comfortable and efficient tablet use. The microbead filled cushion allows this tablet pillow to conform comfortably to your lap or any surface while using your tablet. Tuck your phone, device charger, ear buds, or other accessories into the convenient side pocket to keep them handy. Use the snap-on handle to attach the lightweight tablet pillow to your suitcase or backpack when you are on the go. This item is the perfect stand to prop your tablet up and go hands free while streaming your favorite show, shopping online, FaceTime conversations, or playing a game.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/LapGear-Microbead-Tablet-Pillow-with-Phone-Pocket-Gray-Herringbone/268528336

$19.69 each

6. Born to Bloom

Collaborate with Mother Nature to give this combination birthday and December holiday gift that grows and changes every day. Seeds, a glass bottle to grow them in, soil-less growing medium, instructions, and info about what your flower symbolizes are all included. Once the garden has finished blooming, wash the grow bottle and use as a vase. Cork lid doubles as a coaster for the bottle. A lovely gift for gardeners, sentimental types and those who don’t want any “stuff.” (Sorry that I’m over budget here!)

https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/birth-month-flower-grow-kit?clickid=3tTwSAy5JxyPUBdy6FSGNz3uUkFVy6xex0Jk2U0&irgwc=1&utm_source=Skimbit%20Ltd.&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_campaign=8444&utm_term=Online%20Tracking%20Link&trafficSource=Impact&sharedid=thespruce.com

$36.00 each

7. Apple Air Tag

The Apple Air Tag is the game-changing remedy for those who habitually misplace keys or wallet and maybe also could use a better way to keep track of a pet. Or maybe they just want to know exactly where their bags are while traveling? The one-tap setup makes it a breeze to connect with an iPhone or iPad all in the Find My app. Selected iPhone models have Precision Finding that will lead users right to your nearby AirTag. If it’s further away, hundreds of millions of Apple devices in the Find My network can help track it down. AirTag is compatible with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch device running iOS/iPad OS 14.5 or later. All activity will be anonymous and encrypted for privacy.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-airtag/airtag?afid=p239%7C1442537&cid=aos-us-aff-ir-1442537

$29 each

8. Queen Bean Coffee Sampler

The coffee sampler is a great way to explore these fabulous coffees, available in six (6) contain quarter-pound packs. While you cannot chose specific coffees, Queen Bean invites you to provide a basic guideline, e.g., a random sample, sustainable single origins, dark roasts, flavors, decafs, etc. If you aren’t sure what you like, we suggest you order the random pick or send an email to help you figure out your coffee type. When ordering, please use the comment box to indicate if you would like ground or whole bean coffee.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/489146056/coffee-sampler?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=coffee+samplers+gift&ref=sc_gallery-1-1&sts=1&plkey=da64bda243454aefb4e84ebf5bb733cb02c8266e%3A489146056
$29.90 for six (6) + $8.50 shipping

9. Cantaloupe & Prawns

Celebrate the colors and ambience of the Mediterranean this holiday when you choose this lovely (unframed) art print created by Maggie Cowles, a freelance artist and illustrator whose has been shown in galleries in Tokyo, London, Paris and Los Angeles.

https://society6.com/product/cantaloupe-prawns_print?cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww&sku=s6-21353150p4a1v45&utm_source=cj&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=2114&utm_content=100017238&utm_id=5370367&utm_term=14068151&cjevent=70c9033a84b911ee829514e90a82b821
$27.20 (regularly $34.00)

10. Charity Choice Holiday Gift Certificate

In this holiday season, allow your client gift to demonstrate your company’s values. Charity Choice, an official donation site of the American Red Cross, will enable your clients to support a cause that resonates with them. As your client gives back, you present a positive image of social responsibility for you and your company. You choose the giving level and your recipient chooses the cause to support. You decide the format that your client receives—digital card via email or physical gift card that is mailed either to you or to your client on your behalf.

https://www.charitygiftcertificates.org/#GiveGiftCards

$25.00 each (also $10, $50 & $100)

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Library of Congress / Science Source. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962) served as First Lady of the U.S. March 1933 to April 1945. She was the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), who served as PTOS March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945.

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Saving for Retirement Gets Easier

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Many Americans are unable to adequately save for retirement–or for any other reasons, including emergencies and post-high school education, unfortunately. Rising prices and decades of stagnant wage growth have contributed to both the inability to cover more than basic living expenses and increasing debt. It’s a recipe that undermines saving for the future.

This is not to say that Americans don’t understand the need to save for retirement. Just about everyone knows that once you’ve retired, Social Security cannot replace your entire annual income for the rest of your life. This sometimes results in a cash-flow gap for retirees that until the early 1980s was usually remedied by an employer sponsored defined annual pension benefit but thereafter, most employers chose to address the shortfall with a 401(k) plan. The difference is huge.

A defined pension pays recipients a specified monthly benefit at retirement. The employer funds the plan by contributing a regular amount, usually a percentage of the employee’s pay, into a tax-deferred account. Depending on the plan, employees may also make contributions. Typically, pensions are calculated through a formula that considers the employee’s salary and length of service.

The 401(k) plan, and also the 403(b) plan, by contrast, are defined contribution plans, as are employee stock ownership and profit-sharing plans. A defined contribution plan does not promise a specific amount of benefits at retirement. In this scenario the employee, the employer, or both contribute to the employee’s retirement account, often at a set rate, such as 5 % of annual salary each year. The employer usually works with a major financial services company that invests the retirement funds on behalf of company employees. Upon retirement, the employee receives the balance in the account, which is based on contributions plus or minus investment gains or losses. The value of the account will fluctuate due to changes in the value of the investments made.

The defined pension plan has nearly disappeared from the American landscape. For the most part, only city, state and federal government agencies offer a traditional pension plan to employees. Although we’ve had about 40 years to adjust to the next wave of retirement funding, the update has been a challenge. According to a survey published last October by the financial services company Bankrate, 56% of working Americans reported that they’re behind on their retirement savings goal. Furthermore, the general savings rate for Americans has fallen to an all-time low, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The average American had saved 2.3 % of disposable income as of October 2022, down from a 7.3 % savings rate reported in 2021—but that figure was impacted by the pandemic, when people couldn’t get out and spend. Those are very disquieting statistics but in December 2022, Congress approved legislation that should provide a ray of sunshine to brighten the day.

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) Act 2.0 Act is intended to change at least two depressing and embarrassing statistics: first, that nearly 75 % of small businesses do not offer retirement plans to their employees and second, to grow the percentage of Americans who not only contribute to a retirement plan but also encourage and enable them to start saving for retirement earlier in life. The idea is to allow retirement savings to grow over a longer period of time and result in a more financially secure retirement for you.

401(k) automatic enrollments

The enhanced rewards that come from saving for retirement will take time to kick in. Beginning in 2025, small businesses will be required to automatically enroll employees in 401(k) or 403(b) retirement plans, with a contribution rate between 3 % and 10 %. The employee contribution limit for 401(k) plans will be raised from $19,500/year to $26,000/year to encourage and reward more robust retirement savings, per Secure 2.0. Also, employers must offer retirement plan benefits to part-time employees who’ve worked for them for at least two years. Businesses that are less than three years old, or those that employ 10 or fewer employees, are exempt. Moreover, employers must explain to employees that they may opt-out of the auto-enrollment feature (maybe the spouse has a better retirement plan).

Another new feature of Secure 2.0 is the Starter 401(k), designed for small companies that currently do not offer a retirement plan to employees. The Starter 401(k) is not subject to year-end nondiscrimination testing (an additional compliance measure that examines if a business is fairly distributing its plan) and caps annual contributions at the same amount as the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) limit. The maximum contribution for an IRA account was $6,000 in 2022 and $7,000 for those older than 50.

Tax credits sweetener

Many options in the retirement benefits market haven’t been accessible to small businesses because private sector plans were designed to serve companies with 100 + employees but finally, SMBs will receive additional relief from costs associated with offering retirement plans through Secure 2.0. Previously, employers with fewer than 100 employees were eligible for a three-year, start-up tax credit that covered up to 50% of administrative costs, with an annual limit of $5,000. The new law has increased this credit to 100% of qualified start-up costs for new plans sponsored by employers with up to 50 employees. While costs to start retirement plans vary on the basis of a business’s size and the type of plan, the enhanced tax credits should cover a majority of an employer’s out-of-pocket costs for the first three years.

In addition to addressing the larger national economic issue of retirement savings, Secure 2.0 confers yet another advantage to SMBs—an opportunity for to improve their benefits package, which can attract talent. Benefits can be a competitive advantage when it comes to hiring, whether you operate a neighborhood breakfast and lunch place or a medical equipment company.

Retirement Plans for Freelancers

You didn’t think I’d leave you out of the mix, did you? Here’s an overview of tax-deferred and after-tax retirement savings plans that work well for Freelance professionals. Most feature similar options to save for retirement as employees participating in company plans.

Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)

  • Contribute as much as 25% of your net earnings from self-employment (not including contributions for yourself), up to $66,000 for 2023 ($61,000 was the 2022 limit).
  • Open a SEP-IRA through a bank or other financial institution.
  • Set up the SEP plan for a year as late as the due date (including extensions) of your income tax return for that year.

401(k) plan

  • Make annual salary deferrals up to $22,500 in 2023 ($20,500 was the 2022 limit), plus an additional $7,500 in 2023 ($6,500 in 2022) if you’re 50 years or older either on a pre-tax basis or as designated Roth contributions.
  • Contribute up to an additional 25% of your net earnings from self-employment for total contributions of $66,000 for 2023 ($61,000 was the 2022 limit), including salary deferrals.
  • Customize your retirement plan to allow access to your account balance through loans and hardship distributions if you must.

A one-participant 401(k) plan is sometimes referred to as a solo-401(k) or individual 401(k). It is generally the same as other 401(k) plans, but because there are no employees other than your spouse (if s/he works for the business), the plan is exempt from discrimination testing.

If you are a Schedule C a sole proprietor and have a SIMPLE IRA plan, you are treated as both an employer and an employee when calculating and reporting your own retirement plan contributions and limits. Report both your salary reduction contributions and employer contributions (non-elective or matching) for yourself on Part II – line 15 of Form 1040 Schedule 1. Note that this is different from reporting employer contributions (non-elective or matching) for your employees, which you record as a business expense on Schedule C.

Maximum annual contribution SIMPLE IRA

Re: your salary reduction contributions, you may defer up to $15,500 in 2023 ($14,000 was the 2022 limit) however, you may not exceed your net earnings from self-employment from the business sponsoring the SIMPLE IRA plan. If you are age 50 years or older , you can make a catch-up contribution of up to $3,500 in 2023 ($3,000 was the 2022 limit).

When you are an employer

Employer contributions for yourself must be the same type and rate as the contributions you make for your employees. You must either:

  • match your salary reduction contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 3% of your net earnings from self-employment; or
  • make a non-elective contribution of 2% of your net earnings from self-employment that do not exceed $330,000 in 2023; ($305,000 was the 2022 limit).

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Enjoying retirement at Seabrook Island, near Charleston, SC