Success Tips Provided Courtesy of Paul Tulenko

Business Success Newsletter #2001-01
by Paul Tulenko: America's #1 Small Business Success Expert

In This Issue: (Scroll down for full story)
1. New WebSite!
2. Paul’s Weekly Column Highlights!
3. Merging of PDA’s and Cellphones!
4. RETAILoptions! Makes a Fabulous Offer!
5. Entrepreneurs Needing Help!
6. Reader Tips & Solutions!
7. Unabashed Advertising!

1. New WebSite!
Starting January 22, 2000 we will be changing our WebSite. Lots of new features will be added, and the site will be compatible with the AOL, Microsoft, and Netscape browsers. Bear with us, it will take another week or so to get everything working correctly as we do it all ourselves!

2. Paul’s Weekly Column Highlights!
(Paul’s Syndicated Small Business Success Column appears in over 60 newspapers worldwide. Check (www.tulenko.com) to read this week’s Column and for details on how to get Paul’s Column printed in YOUR newspaper!)
Now is the time to dust off that idea you’ve had for a business of your own and see if it will fly. Learn what you have to do and when you should do it! Tips on business selection, location, and other important topics are addressed. When you finish working with the information in this Column you will be able to correctly decide if a business of your own is for you!

3. Merging of PDA’s and Cellphones!
I just talked with Bob Schumacher, General Director of Mobil Media at Delphi Automotive Systems about a product that blows my mind! If you’ve read my columns, you know I’m looking forward to my Dick Tracy© communicator!

Well, Delphi may have part of the picture with the Delphi Communiport® Mobile Productivity Center (MPC), a voice-activated device that works with the Palm™ V or Vx hand-held and most any digital band cellular phone. There is a docking station that fits in various places in your car containing a short-range FM transmitter, a microphone, a voice-recognition module, and software/hardware interfaces to the Palm and the cellular phone.

You use the unit by tuning the FM transmitter to an unused area on your FM auto radio, after which you can ask the unit to read or write to your calendar, appointment book, notepad, etc. The unit ‘talks’ to you over your radio. You can also ask the system to make or answer a phone call, add an appointment to your Palm, send an email, and a host of other activities.

So far it will only function in major metropolitan areas, so check the Delphi WebSite (www.delphi.com) before you spend the $499 the system costs. Future additions will include WAP and will work on any digital network!

4. RETAILoptions! Makes a Fabulous Offer!
Here’s the story. If you are already a whiz in the retail business with one or more successful stores and have either a fabulous marketing, merchandising, or branding idea, or you are a real up-and-comer at retail enabling technology, or if you have already developed (or almost developed) technology that makes the on-line shopping experience better for the customer and for you … do I have a deal for you!

Before I talk about the deal, you need to know that this is not just another VC firm where you are one of a dozen and they hope one of you will pan out; this is an Equity based deal (which means adequate funding), and you will have one of the main partners on your board mentoring and guiding you in your growth.

RETAILoptions is looking for you (if that’s you in the previous paragraph) with the aim of helping you succeed beyond your wildest dreams. If you fit their model, you will receive a great deal of assistance which includes mentoring, money, and the opportunity to team with major firms such as Carrefour (France), Federated Department Stores, Inc, Sears, and others.

Understand, you have to keep it real. This is big-time! This is not a place to sell your handmade baskets, but a place to scale your innovative proprietary items (patented, trademarked, or copyrighted) to heights you never dreamed of!

If this all fits you, contact RETAILoptions through their WebSite at www.retailoptions.com.

5. ENTREPRENEURS NEEDING HELP!
(This section is for YOU! If you have a problem that needs a solution, send it to me at: paul@tulenko.com. I'll post it in this section for reader input! Your answer could come from China, Japan, Canada, Brazil or most anyplace in the world; and of course from in the USA. If you have an answer (or even a general tip that has worked for you), send your tip to me, and I will post your answer.

HELP REQUEST 1!
From: Moneith in Australia:
I have been hosting meetings for large corporations and am having problems dealing with leftover alcohol. The company pays me a flat fee for my catering services and I buy everything. The food is no problem as the staff pretty well eats all of it, and I’m getting better at how much to prepare or buy, but I don’t know what to do with the alcohol. Does it belong to the company, to me, should we give it to the staff or pour it down the drain? So far, I have been storing it in my home, but I don’t know if that is right. (Note from Paul: I need help with this one! Anyone from Australia? )

HELP SOLUTION 1!
No solutions this week!

6. READER TIPS & SOLUTIONS!
(Do you have a tip or solution you would like to pass on to others? Send your tip to me at paul@tulenko.com, and I’ll post it here!
From: "George Hannye" GHannye@aol.com Greater Knoxville SCORE!
Many small businesses want to design their own Web site. Thanks to user-friendly software, it's much easier now than ever before. To construct a Web site in under an hour, the best options are: geocities.yahoo.com, www.tripod.lycos.com or hometown.aol.com. If you have a few hours to learn the programs, www.cutepage.com or www.coolpage.com can help you produce a more powerful Web site. None of these requires you to know HTML (the language used to create Web pages).

Don't forget that your domain name becomes (in the mind of most of the visitors to your site) your company's identifier. Try to select a domain name that describes the purpose of your Web site. Five things you should consider when naming your site are:

1. -Keep it short (it will be easy to fit into things like logos, advertising and business cards).
   
2. -Make it memorable-it should stick in your customer's mind.
   
3. -Choose something that's not easily confused with other domain names.
   
4. -Make it easy to spell, and easy for your customers to type.
   
5. -Be sure that it relates to your business; this is very important if you want searches for your type of business to come up with your Web site.

7. PAUL’S TIP OF THE WEEK!
Take out your business card and REALLY look at it. Does it tell you EXACTLY what it is you do? If not, why not? I’m not talking about that stupid corporate card that has the fancy logo with all the corporate jazz, and a little place somewhere where they allow you to put your name and ‘title’ (job slave?) where everyone can see it. No, I’m talking about YOUR business card! Does it say: “Trudy’s Gift Baskets” and then follows up with the next line saying something like, ”We supply cost-effective gift baskets for all occasions” or does it say: “Baskets Inc.”? Identifying your small business with your name is a lot smarter than a generic name, and it will get you a lot more business.

7. UNABASHED ADVERTISING!
As a businessperson you want to let others know that you have answers to their problems, that you are an expert in what you do, and if they will only contact you, you can fix things for a minimum of cost and red tape; but you don’t always know how to go about doing this. One idea is to write a small pamphlet or mini-book about a subject you know well, and pass this material out every chance you get. To learn how to write this kind of material, send for Paul Tulenko’s Book titled: “Six Steps To Expert!” This book covers EVERYTHING you need to know! Send $19.95 plus $2.35 shiping to Six Steps To Expert, c/o Paul Tulenko, 2320 LaVista Court NW, Albuquerque, NM 87120-1025.

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America's #1 Small Business Success Experts
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