When it comes to using your resume to apply for a job, it’s important to remember that form matters just as much as content.  A nice looking resume can’t make up for one that is full of spelling errors, typos, and factually incorrect information.  However, an unattractive resume can completely undermine even the most impressive and well-documented credentials.

In almost every situation, it is advisable to limit your resume to a single page.  There are a few circumstances where longer resumes are acceptable, but not many.  The layout of your resume should allow for a sufficient amount of white space around the edges of the page.  One inch margins all the way around the document are ideal, although it may be acceptable to shrink margins a little bit if necessary to fit the document on a single page.

The font that you use should be clear and easy to read.  Ideally, you should use 12 point type.  If you need to use a smaller font to make your resume fit on one page, you can go to a 10 point font, but never smaller.  You  can make your name and contact information a little bit larger so that they stand out on the page.

Verdana and Arial are excellent resume fonts because they are easy to read and the transmit well via fax.  You should never use ornate fonts on your resume, such as Algerian or Bradley Hand.  These fonts are nice for invitations and other casual communications, but they are not appropriate for a resume.

If you are going to fax your resume to prospective employers, it is advisable to print it on plain white copy paper for ease of transmission.  If you are going to hand deliver it or mail your resume, you should invest in high quality resume paper, which you can find at any department or office supply store.  Stick with white, beige, or gray paper.  Pink paper does not send a professional message, nor does any other pastel, bright, or patterned paper.

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One of the things that new business owners tend to be very scared of is someone else stealing their business idea. After all, they’ve spent a lot of time, effort, energy and money developing the idea and the last thing they want is someone stealing the business idea and developing it instead.

I’ve even known a new business owner who completely abandoned his idea when he found out that a competitor had started more or less the same idea as him a couple of months before – what a shame!

Let’s break this down a bit and look at some facts and then I’ll explain how to protect your business idea, but also why you shouldn’t be too afraid of other people finding out what it is.

Right now, at this moment, about 60% of the working population are sat in businesses all around the country dreaming about starting your own business. However, only about 3% of people actually will start their own business. Why is this?

Well the most common reason that people don’t start their own business is risk and fear of failure. It’s hard work and risky to develop a business idea and have the confidence to actually start up. And, I believe it takes a special type of person to actually have the courage to go for it.

So, don’t worry too much about other people finding out. Even if they think your idea is fantastic and the best thing since sliced bread, it would take someone in the 3% of the population to actually go for it. Chances are that the people who find out are in the 60% of people who dream about starting their own business, but never will or in the 37% of people who don’t have any aspirations at all to start their own business.

OK, I hear you cry – but what if I tell someone and they happen to be in the 3% of people who really want to start their own business and they steal my idea?

Well, yes there is a small possibility.

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Over the past several decades, the marketing function has undergone evolutionary change.    During the 1950’s and 1960’s, marketing was fairly simple.  There were fewer product categories and fewer products.  There were few media vehicles: television was just coming of age, there were only a few major weekly magazines, and FM radio had yet to be heard. In the 1970’s, alternative radio, UHF television, special interest magazines, and the growing sophistication of direct mail brought greater diversity to the marketing mix.  Marketers began to focus on niche markets.  Successful products spawned product extensions.  New categories developed almost overnight as consumers demanding social change also sought more diversity and uniqueness in their lives. The 1980’s saw the conglomeration of the marketing industry with the advent of mega-agencies such as McCann Worldwide and Saachi & Saachi.  As a result, many skilled executives who were “downsized” formed “boutique” agencies and began specializing in their particular promotional forte.  Niche marketing became more focused.

The 1990’s offered an even more perplexing set of marketing and promotional options:  hundreds of cable television channels; radio stations featuring shock jocks and Christian Coalitions; magazines for every pursuit, profession, or perversion.  And most startling of all, the Internet!

The 21st Century has proven to be even more perplexing.  Today, the challenge to advertisers is: 

“How do you go from interrupting people because you want to, to interrupting people because they want to be interrupted?”

This represents a fundamental shift in the way marketers must look at their customers.  And it represents a fundamental shift in the way the media reaches their readers, listeners, or viewers.

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If you are considering starting a new business in the near future then you either have aspirations to be your own boss or you have viable small business ideas. It may be that you have both. However, without good business ideas that have the potential to fulfill a need your business will struggle to take off. To avoid failure, it is essential that you learn how to evaluate your business ideas honestly and effectively.

Have You Done Your Homework?

In order to evaluate your small business ideas effectively then you will need to put in a lot of time and effort. Research is the key to ensuring that you get off on the best possible foot. However, many individuals fail to do enough research when starting their own business. In an ideal world all business owners would research their business idea fully. They would evaluate them when they have a list of a few possible products or services. However, many wait until they have decided what they want to do before completing cursory research.

In order to evaluate your small business ideas effectively, you need to primarily research the competition in the local area. If there is a lot of competition to an idea and the businesses are well established, then it may be best to move onto another idea. However, if there is only one company to compete with and you have factored improvements upon their service into your business plan then you may decide to continue. You need to create or satisfy a market need so your small business ideas need to pass this stage of the evaluation.

Do You Have A Clear Business Idea?

Another area you will need to research to be able to evaluate your ideas is whether or not your product or service is faddy and will become redundant in a few years.

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Making money from your ideas requires a combination of disciplined actions and “good luck.” The disciplined actions include taking advantage of legal protections and using good business practices. “Good luck” has a way of finding those who pursue opportunities with preparation and persistence.

(1) Recognize the market potential for your idea.

Observation and experience can provide insight for a new solution to an old problem. For example, Ann Moore created the “rough draft” first Snugli for her own newborn after a stint in the Peace Corps. She based her approach on her observation of the quiet, contented babies carried in cloth carriers by their African moms. She recognized that she had a potential product with a large market (parents who want comfortable ways for transporting children).

Tip: To evaluate the market potential of your idea, ask yourself, who will buy it? What problem does it solve? Who are the competitors?

(2) Take steps to legally protect your idea.

There was no financial reward for the creator of the smiley face, Harvey Ball, because he did not take steps to legally protect his idea and it fell into the public domain for all of us to enjoy. Similarly, the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, reaped no direct financial reward from his invention, although he has been awarded a knighthood for his pioneering work.

To maximize the revenue from a “hit” character, SpongeBob SquarePants, a multi-pronged strategy was used to protect the intellectual property. Copyright protection for the show and registering the trademark in multiple categories covers a broad spectrum of potential spin-off products. You can check online at www.uspto.gov and see that parent company Viacom registered the trademark in numerous categories, protecting its rights to the clothing, toys, games, etc.

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There comes a time in the evolution of every business that a decision needs to be made concerning whether or not to expand to reach a larger marketplace and, if so, the best method to achieve that goal.

Franchising, which is one method of expansion, has become increasingly popular in the past three decades. There is no doubt as to its success but the important questions are whether it is right for you and whether you are ready to be a franchisor. To help you answer those questions, let’s explore what being a franchisor requires, mentally, physically and financially.

You first need to understand that franchising is a business in and of itself. Your existing business (the underlying concept which you want to franchise) is another business. It is necessary, therefore, for you to begin adjusting your thinking to the new business at hand. It is, of course, advantageous to have a unique or superior product or service concept to offer to the public; however, it will not hold up well without a good franchise system built around it. Conversely, some less than outstanding concepts have made a name for themselves as a result of a superior franchise system.

The single most important aspect of any franchise system is the trademark or service mark which is being licensed to the franchisee. Your first priority should be to design a unique mark by which your franchise system and its products or services will be identified. You then must search the files of the federal government and the states in order to determine whether anyone else is presently using the same or a similar mark. If you have a green light, you must proceed to secure a registration of that mark for yourself. Your franchise agreement must protect your interest in those marks and you must set up strict and well enforced standards for the franchisee to follow so as not to endanger those marks.

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Worrying causes us to sleep fitfully. Here are some ways you can stop the worrying and sleep better during these tough economic times.

1. You will sleep better if you feel as though you have accomplished something, educate yourself about your business, read books, trade magazines, newspapers and attend any seminars or online tele-seminars and webinars that you can. Make it a point to do one thing each day to educate yourself. Pursue some cross-training to make yourself more valuable to your organization.

2. Network and make contacts online and offline: Networking will keep you in everyone’s minds, also if you end up losing your job you will have a slew of business cards of others in the business that you can contact to work with during hard times.

3. Build your online presence: With a website, blog, newsletter or articles. Join online networking groups that relate to what you do, mentor someone or find a mentor, visit Craig’s list or other online portals.

4. Learn more about jobs that are recession proof, industries such as food, energy, vices (tobacco), entertainment, medical services, debt collection, security or alarm services. Are any of these things something you could implement into your job or use as a part time job avenue?

5. Build value: Offer a buy one get one deal or buy one get something at 50% off. This increases your sales, where someone might have only purchased one item, with a deal like that it seems almost foolish to them not to take advantage of the deal and therefore purchase more from you.

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My wife is from Pittsburgh, so you know what I was watching Super Bowl Sunday. Being a lifelong Bengals fan, it was painful for me to watch the game. Although the game wasn’t played well by either team, it was fun to watch the advertisements. I watched the ads not from a football fan or TV viewer’s perspective, but from a marketing perspective. My goal was to figure out if each ad was a super ad or a super waste of money.

The cost per ad in a Super Bowl time slot is reported to be somewhere between $800,000 and $2.5 million. How could one commercial be worth that much money? Can it possibly pay for itself?

I judged each ad by several criteria to determine if it was worth the money. I also judged the ads from an automobile dealer’s perspective to see if anything could be learned and be used on a smaller scale.

First, I judged whether the ad caught my attention. This can be accomplished through humor and other emotional connections. Some of the commercials grabbed you immediately and compelled you to watch while others almost forced you to lose interest from the beginning. Remember, market share of mind precedes market share.

Next, I judged if the commercials kept my attention and created interest in the product or service. Some of the commercials grabbed your attention and then got lost in their journey to reach their final destination. A simple question of “What are we trying to accomplish?” would have eliminated this problem.

Another important aspect was if the ad created a desire to either find out more about the product or service or to buy it. The biggest lesson to be learned here is that some advertising companies sell a bill of goods to their clients. The ad company gets the client all wrapped up in the creative factors, such as how funny it is or how clever the production is. However, the real reason for the advertisement is to sell something now or in the future.

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