Word Constructions

Refer to older posts…

What is profit?

Published 19 February, 2009 | By TashWord

I have seen a lot of businesses recently offering a proportion of sales or profits to the bushfire appeal, and seen/heard various discussions about this. What thing that has stood out to me is that not everyone understands what a profit actually is, so I think it’s time to discuss it!

The concise Oxford dictionary gives the following definition…

profit: 1. advantage, benefit 2. pecuniary gain, excess of returns over outlay.

Or as a verb, it defines it as bringing or being of advantage.

Profit is different to proceeds or turnover which is the total amount of money coming into your business from customers. If you sell 10 items at $50 each, your turnover is $500 but your profit could be a lot less.

Simply put, profit is the money left over once you have paid all your business expenses. Or you can view it as profit = turnover – expenses.

So continuing from the above example, if each item costs you $20 to make and your overheads are $10 per item, your expenses are $30 and you will make $20 profit on each item. So from a turnover of $500 you will make $200 profit.

Expenses are everything your business spends money on to conduct business. As well as obvious costs such as materials and equipment to make products or products from a supplier, it includes what are known as overheads – the cost of electricity, marketing and promotions, staff, office/shop space, insurance, registrations, legal fees and so on.

Getting back to making donations as a business, ‘100% of profits’ would mean a $200 donation from the sale of 10 items whereas a ‘100% of proceeds’ would mean a $500 donation.

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged definition, money, profit, sales, turnover | 6 Comments

Be wary, you’ll get weary

Published 16 February, 2009 | By TashWord

Wary: to be cautious and aware, on guard
I am wary of links in emails from people I don’t know.

Weary: exhausted or very tired. It can be physically tired or an exhaustion of energy, tolerance and spirit.
The weary CFA volunteers were grateful for a cold drink.

Thinking “if you were in a war, you would need to be wary of your environment” may help you tell these two definitions apart.

Posted in Monday Meanings | Tagged define, definition, meanings, wary, weary | Leave a comment

Generosity isn’t just money

Published 14 February, 2009 | By TashWord

Last week I wrote about generosity killing mediocrity and I wanted to add that I don’t think generosity only involves money and things.

Sharing information is also generous

Generosity also doesn’t have to be about sacrifice or ‘doing without’ on your part either. I believe it is about contributing and benefiting someone else – the focus is on who you are helping rather than on you. Obviously, the more you give, the more generous you are being but we all have to work within our own constraints.

You can be generous in many ways, even as a business. Here are some examples of non-monetary generosity:

by giving someone your time – for example help at a working bee
by sharing your expertise – for example I share tips in this blog and in my articles and speak at workshops and conferences
by providing a free service – for example, I want to find a Victorian business and help them rebuild their documents after the bushfires
giving a smile and nice messages when dealing with people – it takes little effort but can mean a lot
arranging something, such as a fundraising event or a networking function
sharing resources
by promoting something. For instance, referring someone to your client’s website, linking to a charity or reviewing a book
networking – I don’t mean just going to networking events but helping people you know connect with each other as relevant and forwarding useful/interesting things to those in your network.

With the bushfire appeal high on the minds of many Australians at the moment, thinking of ways to be generous may mean we can give more than our finances alone will allow.

*image courtesy of 123rf

Posted in bit off track, business info & tools | Tagged expertise, generosity, giving, money, network, time | Leave a comment

Verses vs. Versus

Published 9 February, 2009 | By TashWord

Verses: a section of words in a poem or song, similar to a paragraph in text
The third verse in that song was sung a bit out of tune.

Versus: a term to link two things being compared against each other.
It’s Richmond versus Collingwood in the footy this weekend.

vs: The abbreviated version of versus.
It’s Richmond vs. Collingwood in the footy this weekend.

Not sure how to remember which is which? Just remember the us in versus relates to us against them!

Posted in Monday Meanings | Tagged define, meaning, verses, versus, vs | Leave a comment

Generosity kills mediocrity

Published 8 February, 2009 | By TashWord

I was been doing some online reading and came across the following at the end of an article by Jen Harwood on turning mediocre moments into great or magnificent moments.

In my experience, I have found that mediocre people say and do nothing and expect everything. Magnificent people say and do what needs to be said and done and expect nothing. Generosity kills mediocrity.

It is great concept!

I think we have all come across those people who give very little or nothing and yet expect everything, and people who think they deserve things because they are {insert their term here!} Let’s face it, they aren’t the people we usually want to spend more time with or call magnificent!

So next time you are feeling life is a bit ordinary, spark yourself up by being generous to someone else. At the minimum, you’ll feel better and you could get unexpected rewards from it.

Posted in writing | Tagged generosity, magnificent, mediocre | 1 Comment

Make blogs interesting, not advertisments!

Published 7 February, 2009 | By TashWord

Some time ago, I wrote about avoiding a sales pitch as your blog ending. I was recently reminded of this when reading a post on a new blog.

The post was about others not having enough skill to offer professional services, which is a fair point (and one of my pet hates, too!) However, a middle section of the post was “Others wrongly offer a and b. Our business offers x and y”., and expanded on what they offer.

Instead of explaining their point of view so I could learn something, they told me what they can do – I still don’t know why they think their way is better than anyone else’s way. Consequently, I gained no knowledge and they gained no credibility.

Blogging is not just a form of cheap advertising – it is about building a community where people share information, ideas and opinions. The more you give through your blog, the more likely that people will start trusting you and valuing your expertise. That is how blogs bring you customers – not by boring them with lists of your services.

Here’s to interesting blogs to read!

Posted in blogging | Tagged advertising, blog, endings, information, interesting, sales, sharing | 1 Comment

Payment via credit card

Published 6 February, 2009 | By TashWord

I was going through some emails and found the following at the end of an email from someone who considers herself knowledgeable in business.

PS. If you don’t want to go through the process of payment on the web simply send me an email with your credit card details and I will send you both books via email for the low cost of $15.00.

If anyone ever asks for your credit card details via email run away – well, at least say no and arrange payment some other way. Emails are not secure so you risk credit card theft if you provide details in an email.

Of course, the same advice applies if you are sending information about accessing a website or other password protected system. As soon as you put a URL, username and password together in an email, there is a risk someone else can get access.

If you receive a username & password via email, change your password ASAP to guard against this security issue.

If you have to send access information (e.g. giving a new web designer ftp access to your site) pick up the phone, use instant messaging or SMS, or if you use email, separate the elements into different emails to reduce the risk.

It is much safer to make credit card payments over a secure website or phone so don’t give details via email, and never ask your customers for their details over email.

Posted in writing | Tagged credit, credit card, email, payments, secure, theft | 1 Comment

Government help for small business…

Published 4 February, 2009 | By TashWord

“Businesses in Australia – especially small businesses – are the engine of the Australian economy and deserve direct support during a global recession.”

I agree with the Treasurer that Australian business are a crucial part of our economy – and helping those businesses will therefore help the economy.

Yesterday, the Rudd Government announced a huge package to help prevent or reduce the recession for Australia. Part of the package is aimed at business, whilst the remainder is aimed at creating jobs and increasing spending.

The small business and general business tax break is described in the Treasurer’s media release and fact sheet. For most small businesses, it makes the purchase of a new computer or other eligible assets (excluding cars and trading stock) more affordable.

Great news if you need a new computer – or you sell computers!

There are of course conditions to qualify for these deductions, such as having a turnover under $2 million to qualify as a small business.

The 30% tax deduction only applies for assets greater than $1,000 which may exclude many micro businesses. For example, an additional $300 deduction applies if you buy a $1,000 computer before the end of June 2009 – how many micro businesses would be buying a $1,000 computer unless in that industry?

However, if you are considering buying a new sewing machine, desk, computer, printer, camera, or similar, maybe the tax deduction will make it feasible for you to buy a larger and more expensive model.

How valuable do you think this tax break will be for your business? Will it impact on your buying decisions in the next few months?

Posted in bit off track, business info & tools | Tagged assets, break, deduction, government, small business, tax | 6 Comments

Learning from SEO spam

Published 1 February, 2009 | By TashWord

Last week, I wrote about SEO offer spam emails. Having just received another one of these annoying emails, I thought I’d give some examples of why I don’t trust them…

We can put your site at the top of a search engines listings. If this is something you might be interested in, send me a reply with the web addresses you want to promote and the best way to contact you with some options.

Sincerely,

First Last

So what is wrong with this email?

no greeting is rude. Even if he didn’t want to take the time to research my name, he could have said “Hello” at the minimum
who is he? There was no other information to help me identify his business or contact him except by reply email
if he doesn’t know what my website is (so how did you email me then?) how can he be sure he can help my rankings improve? Maybe I’m already at the top, maybe it’s a family site I don’t care about rankings for, maybe a thousand different things that mean his service is not relevant
what does he mean by ‘top of a search engine listings’ anyway? Top of page 10 in Google is still top but not something I aspire to! Top for an irrelevant or obscure keyword won’t help me either. By not being clear, he missed an opportunity to show me he knows what he is talking about and starting some trust.
where is he located? Yes, we could deal via email which means his location isn’t too important, but knowing he is overseas helps understand time differences. Further, I would be more likely to hire an Australian as they understand my market better and I don’t have to deal with the dollar value.

Whilst I hope you don’t send out spam to get business, the above tips will hopefully help you avoid answering spam like this and help you write better sales emails.

Use your words wisely!

Posted in bad writing examples, web content, writing | Tagged email, seo, spam, tips, trust | 2 Comments

We must not be defeated…

Published 31 January, 2009 | By TashWord

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.
Maya Angelou

I came across the above quote in the December Design Lines and liked it – I also thought it might be inspiring if you are reviewing 2008 as part of your goal setting process. No matter what happened in 2008, you can choose to make 09 bigger and better!

Posted in writing | Tagged defeat, goals, inspire | Leave a comment

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