Regular readers of this space will recall eight straight nights of posts last December devoted to my attempt at writing a Hanukkah song, “Heyse Latke Kalte Latke.” At that point, I didn’t yet have an electronic-transmission-friendly version of the lead sheet reflecting the slight tweaking that violinist Peter Jensen and I had given the tune since I first scrawled my handwritten version of the melody some months earlier.

Well, I finally broke down and bought me some music notation software — the formerly free Finale NotePad, now $9.95 in its 2009 edition. With the reconstituted Viper and His Famous Orchestra doing some shows later this summer, and with the limited time we’re going to have to actually all be in one place at one time to practice, I needed some way to make distance rehearsal more doable. I made “Heyse Latke Kalte Latke” my test case for the software, and I’m pretty happy how easy it was to figure out and getting something down quickly with even this cheapest version of the Finale line.

I’ve saved the result here for download, and you can then follow along with this recording of the Paint Branch Ramblers practicing it last November (it goes into Bill Monroe’s “Jerusalem Ridge” toward the end, but you can ignore that).

download

There are a few flies in the ointment. With NotePad, you apparently can’t add the grace notes I would have liked to get some of the more klezmer-y effects on paper. More problematically, you can’t do double bar lines to indicate the different sections (this song has clearly distinct A and B strains), and you can’t format the result so that it gives you 4 measures per line (which would make it easier to read and play along with).

I’ll also be testing out an open source program called MuseScore to see how that compares. I don’t need much in the way of bells & whistles, but it would be good to have a few key features that would enable me to put together better working lead sheets for practice purposes.

Advertising 101

After I review why we advertise, I’ll talk about some of the problems with Lethbridge advertising (these are the same for any city, I’m  just addressing the city in which I live).

WHY?

The Seven top reasons to advertise are:

Sell – this is 90% of what goes on in Advertising

Reposition – think of: (a) different ways to use a product (baking soda for cooking, fridge and carpet deodorizer, tooth paste)(market penetration)
(b) different people to use your product (market expansion)

Introduce – a new product, service, or business

Resuscitate an old brand – or the famous “under new management”

PR – did I mention that Ben’s Beef Jerky has a scholarship program for high school students? www.bensbeefjerky.com

Respond to crisis – Tylenol, cow, pig, dog food, spinach, pistachios

Solidify market share – similar to reposition but often this is ‘advertise because the competition is advertising.’

Problems with Lethbridge Advertising

For everything that I see, Lethbridge is the same as every other city in Canada. There a mix of good advertising, bad advertising, good practices and not so good practices. I think the biggest problems come from (1) one overly high expectations about the power of advertising, (2) the opposite, not advertising because ‘I don’t need to’ and the reason some people may not like me, (3) letting a graphic designer,web designer,  print shop, radio or TV station create the ad for you. These five resources have a place in the whole process but they should never be thought of as a one-stop solution.

Advertising won’t wake a poorly run business a successful business – it will make it worse by draining financial resources.

Advertising only works for a well run business that, when new customers respond to the advertising, the business creates some loyalty with the customer and therefore, good advertising for a good business spins off in to positive word of mouth.

What else could be wrong?

Have you ever said or heard this,” I put an ad in x-newspaper and it didn’t work.”

Running an ad once probably won’t work very well. At the other extreme, advertising every day is probably an even bigger waste of money. Some experts say that over advertising is better than advertising too little. But that a is very general statement that doesn’t consider YOUR particular business. I suggest a little experimentation.

You can also apply some simple math for advertising optimization.

Facts: (1) The more you advertise, the cheaper it gets.
(2) Each successive ad is enhanced by the previous ad (up to the point of optimization).
(3) Over advertise and the benefit of each ad is reduced.

A(1) = the first ad, A(2)= the second ad … The benefit in dollars is in [] like [$150]

A(1)[$100] + A(2)[$150] + A(3)[$180] + A(4)[$200] + A(5)[$210] + A(6)[$190] A(7)[$150]… to the point where an extra ad does nothing for your business.

Note that the first ad costs you more for than what you received in extra business. This is often how advertising works.

There are many factors to what makes a good ad: quality of design; size; where the ad is – what newspaper, radio, website, billboard; the product; the offer, etc.

What is important is that you track the response, and in as little as a year or two, you’ll have a much better handle of what works and what doesn’t work. It won’t happen overnight, but if you don’t want to always be flying by the seat of your pants, start tracking your ad spends.

I guess the universal problem with advertising for small businesses is the time it takes to figure it all out. The not so simple solution is to find some one that you trust to manage it for you.

Mrs. Harvey’s long-term career goal is to pursue a career in information technology and to get started, she enrolled in Allied’s online Microsoft® Courses, which train students in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Windows Vista so they can compete in today’s high-tech office environment.

Distance education has been a great fit for Mrs. Harvey, allowing her to study at home while taking care of her children. “(Allied Schools) is wonderful for military spouses because it allows us to ‘go to class’ whenever the time is right for us,” she explained. “Allied has opened the door so that military spouses can be a wife, a mother and a student all at the same time.”

When service members enroll at Allied Schools using Tuition Assistance, their spouse (or a dependent) is eligible for a military spouse scholarship under the school’s in-house Military Family Scholarship Program. In addition, military spouses at 18 select installations can also enroll at Allied Schools using Career Advancement Accounts (CAA) under the governments Military Spouse Career Advancement Initiative.

Allied Schools offers online and traditional correspondence courses in the medical field, real estate and business. Military spouses can train for careers like medical transcription or real estate sales, which are compatible with the military lifestyle. And beginning this fall, military personnel and military spouses can pursue an associate or bachelor’s degree at Allied American University (AAU).  

To learn more about career training for military spouse, visit www.education4military.com or call (888) 501-5221 to speak with a military admissions representative. 

About Allied Schools

Allied Schools, Inc., established in 1992, is nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), which is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally-recognized accrediting agency. Allied Schools has provided quality instruction to more than 825,000 students in the last 15 years. Students can choose from 25+ career training courses in the areas of real estate, medical and business or enroll in a high school diploma program. Online and traditional home study courses offer students a quick and convenient way to learn. Allied Schools is based in Laguna Hills, Calif.

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t;
If you want to win but think you can’t;
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose you’re lost;
For out of the world we find.
Success begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in a state of mind.

For many a race is lost;
Ere even a step is run.
A many a coward fails;
Ere even their work is begun.

Think big and your dreams will grow;
Think small and you’ll fall behind;
Think that you can and you will;
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before;
You can even win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go;
To the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins;
Is the person who thinks they can!

Don’t wait for some distant day to come,
it may be too late before you’ve even begun.

Not everyone will agree with all you decide.
Be true to yourself first and foremost. 

The only important thing in life is what you do
with the time you spend here on Earth.

Don’t be afraid to follow your desires,
they are not silly nor selfish. 

Take the time and do what makes you feel alive.
Leave your fears and regrets in the past,
for this is where they belong.

Don’t cloud today with things that can’t be undone.
You have no more control over yesterday or tomorrow,
than you do the raging of your passions. 

Do not quiet these dreams nor quench your desires.
For if you do, your journey is ended.

You have only today to begin anew and follow your dreams.
For in the end all we have are our memories.

When the twilight comes to us, let there be,
No excuses, no explanations, no regrets!

When you are building a business, you really need to plan out exactly what you should be doing on a daily and hourly basis to ensure growth each and every day.
I stop each hour and ask is this going to make me money? ££~$$~€€
If the answer is no – I check – is this the best use of my time right now?
Some people who are new to the area of business are not spending time planning out exactly what they want to achieve in six, nine, twelve months. With no direct target, it is very hard to plan. When you are aiming just to have a business up but not specifics like how much money? How many clients? How am I making the money specifically? There is no direct daily focus. If you want to make €500, £5000 $50000, you need to break that down and see, how much do you need to be earning today?
If you are unsure of how to plan, talk to us or someone that has great experience in the area of business planning. This will be invaluable in your business.