Great marketers know a secret that most business people don´t. I´m going to share it with you now: You can go from losing money to making a fortune just by changing a few words.
What words are those? The first words… in any letter, ad or Web page. The words that make up the headline.

Recently I was speaking to a small business group, and to make my point, I took that day´s edition of USA Today and covered up all the headlines on the front page with inch-wide white correction tape. I asked them what was wrong with the newspaper.

“No headlines!” they blurted out, almost all at once.

“Then why,” I asked, “do so many of your ads not have headlines?”

It´s a fact: We have been conditioned to decide what to read based on the effect a few choice words have on our thoughts and our feelings. With books, it´s often the title. With articles in the newspaper, it´s the words in a headline. With a magazine on the newsstand, it´s the headlines on the cover.

Whether you know it or not, we decide whether or not to read ads, letters and Web pages the same way.

So, if that´s the case, how do you write headlines to make people want to read your copy, and get interested in doing business with you?

• Make your headline create a vivid picture and/or stimulate a strong feeling

In your small business, many of your conversations are logical and factual. That´s the nature of business–and to do otherwise would be considered “unbusinesslike.”
However, about the worst thing you can do for your promotion is to have a strictly factual, logical headline at the top of your Web page, letter, ad, flyer or postcard. Oh yes, the headline has to be believable and make sense. And what your headline says has to be supported by logic and facts later in your promotion.

But remember that the purpose of your headline is to stir the emotions of your prospect in the direction of buying what you have to sell… and to get your prospect interested in reading what comes next in your copy.

Here´s an example for a hypothetical product that helps children do better at school.

First, an ineffective headline:
Children who don´t do well at school will have many problems later on in their lives
Now, a more effective headline:

“Daddy! Daddy! I got straight A´s!” he said proudly. Suddenly my son´s future was looking much brighter…

Notice how the first headline states a fact but does not stir emotions in a big way. The second headline, using the same number of words (17), conveys

1) excitement
2) pride
3) hope for the future, and
it also creates a beautiful scene in the reader´s mind of a happy parent-child situation.

Action: When you are preparing or revising a promotion, take the time you need, or get the help you need, to write a great headline that creates a vivid picture and stimulates strong feelings in the mind of your prospect.

• Use headlines that make your prospect instantly understand your most important benefit.

One of my favorite pieces of advertising is a headline (and slogan) for a plumbing service. I´m not that big on plumbing, personally–it´s the kind of thing you wish would work perfectly all the time so you never have to think about it!
Why, then, am I so fond of an old plumbing headline? Because it´s a great example of making your prospect instantly aware of the benefit of your service.

The company is Roto-Rooter.

The headline is as follows:

Call Roto-Rooter–that´s the name–
And away go troubles, down the drain!

Wow– is that perfection in a couple of lines, or what? You get

1) a call to action
2) company identification
3) and a visual description of the benefit.

That´s hard to beat! If you´ve ever had a stopped-up drain, you know exactly why this would be of benefit to you!

Action: Show your headline to people who are unfamiliar with your product and company, but who would be good prospects for what you are selling. See how slowly or quickly they understand what you are saying–especially, what would be the benefit to them. Keep rewriting your headline until these people instantly “get it!

• Make your headline pass the “Shortcut Test”

Imagine all you were allowed to do was run your headline plus a toll-free number… as a classified ad. Ask yourself this question: Would it generate inquiries for you in that form?
I´ll give you an example from my own business. I´m taking the headline and subheadline from a long-copy print promotion for my product called The Money-Making Copywriting Course:

Money-Making Secrets Every Business Owner Needs.
For years, sales copywriting experts have quietly made millions with these little-known secrets. Now you can use this information yourself. Call (415) 564-4475.

In reality, there´s plenty of information about this course right here on the Web site. I used this example only for purposes of illustration. Read it again, though, and ask yourself if these words alone, printed in the right location, wouldn´t prompt qualified prospects to call for more information?

Action: Put your headline and subheadline through the Shortcut Test. Make sure that these words alone plus a toll-free number are likely to generate a response from qualified prospects.

The art of writing headlines is a special skill well worth the time and effort it takes to develop. There are many known statistics in direct marketing that bear repeating here:

- Five times as many people read the headline as read the ad or letter.
- Changes in headlines have produced documented increases in sales of 200%, 500% and, in one extreme case, 1,850% more sales!
- It´s a good idea to write 15 or 20 headlines for your letter or ad, and use the “leftover” headlines as part of the selling copy itself.

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According to ADP research, 71 percent of small businesses still prepare payroll in-house, while 29 percent outsource (15 percent use a service bureau, and 13 percent use an accountant’s services).

Payroll and tax compliance can be time-consuming and burdensome for any business. However, a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) study, “The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms,” showed that America’s small businesses are the hardest hit financially. The study found businesses with fewer than 20 employees faced a 45 percent greater federal regulatory burden than their larger business counterparts.Small businesses annually spend $1,304 on tax compliance per employee, 67 percent more than larger companies with 500 employees or more.

Luckily, technology is transforming the day-to-day operations for small businesses. Today, there are a variety of tools available to help small business owners manage payroll in a cost-effective and simple way. Some seek a do-it-yourself software solution while others prefer to have an outside provider handle it all. In this article, we will review how companies select their payroll method, and the benefits of each type of payroll solution.

In-house Payroll

A 2006 national payroll survey by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Research Foundation found that the most common reason given for doing payroll in-house was that it is the cheapest way. Without dedicated administrative staff, many small business owners run the business during the day, and then spend evenings and weekends catching up on everything else, including bookkeeping, payroll and taxes.

However, many business owners don’t realize that there are “hidden costs” of payroll. Doing payroll in-house is both error-prone and time-consuming. According to ADP research4, companies with 20 employees or more spend upwards of half a day per pay period. On a weekly payroll schedule, that averages out to two full days a month dedicated to payroll.

Then there are risks. Given that local, state, federal tax laws are subject to change, remaining up-to-date and compliant is a formidable task. And the failure to deposit payroll-related taxes in a timely fashion is a frequent cause of tax penalties.

Lastly, when calculating payroll by hand, simple math errors are more common, which can cause employee dissatisfaction – endangering the success of your small business.

Do-it-Yourself Software

In increasing numbers, small businesses are turning to technology for help with their payroll to speed-up processing and improve accuracy.

Do-it-yourself payroll programs are ideally suited for small business owners who seek full control over their payroll processing and tax filing. Software solutions are typically cost-effective and give an “in-control feeling.” Once you input your payroll information, the software automatically calculates net pay for each employee. Product features are typically available 24/7, so you can process payroll whenever it is most convenient.

Outsourcing Payroll

Another option for small businesses is to outsource payroll. By outsourcing, small business owners pass on the responsibility of payroll to either an accountant, bookkeeper or third-party service provider, so that their time can be redirected to other strategic initiatives.

Once you are set up with your payroll provider, the owner simply submits hours worked by each employee. The provider calculates your payroll, including the deductions and with holdings for all relevant tax jurisdictions. Then professionally printed checks, pay vouchers and reports are delivered to your door on payday. Many service providers also manage W-2 creation at the end of the year, allowing seamless integration with accounting.

By working with a national payroll service provider, you can feel confident that payroll will be accurate, on-time and fully compliant with federal, state and local tax regulations. Based on ADP research5, the reasons companies decide to either change payroll processing method or the vendor used for the service delivery are to: save time (33 percent), effort (25 percent) or reduce costs (20 percent). Other reasons cited were tied to customer service, internal issues and familiarity.

Choosing the Right Solution

Ultimately, payroll is a task that every business needs to get done, but each business owner must decide the best approach. With the technology available today, many are choosing to evolve from manual pen and paper to either software or outsourcing – depending on how involved the owner wants to be in the payroll process.

Before moving forward, it is important to evaluate goals. Are you willing to dedicate time to payroll, but want to increase accuracy and compliance? Or do you want to lessen the burden of payroll administration completely?

No matter which payroll method you choose, it’s important to select a software package or outsourcing provider that best meets your needs. Evaluate your options, determine what is most important to your organization, and ask for references from your peers. This is especially important when selecting an outsourcing provider. Your success is based on the expertise and reliability of your partner – it’s essential that your goals and values are aligned.

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But, if you were to try to summarize the financial goal of your business using only one criteria, what would it be? Some might answer that the goal is to maximize profits. In an attempt to increase profits, some companies try to generate more and more revenue, even if the added revenue is less profitable than existing revenue. This results in lower profit margins.

If your sales triple and your profit margin drops in half, profit-wise, you come out ahead. For example, going from sales of $5 million and profit margins of 10% ($500,000 profits) to sales of $15 million and margins of 5% ($750,000 profits) increases profits by 50%.

But, is this truly desirable for most businesses? Low margin businesses usually involve higher risk. While companies are keen about measuring profits, few companies are as concerned with measuring the level of risk the company is taking to achieve the current level of profitability. Profits and profitability aren’t the same. So, too, some companies take much greater risks to earn their money.

Lower margin companies are less resilient to increasing costs and changing market conditions. A drop in sales for a store operating on thin 2% margins often results in absorbing financial losses. And, there isn’t only a quantitative difference between operating a business that is making money and a business that is losing money. There is a qualitative difference. The business which is making money can continue indefinitely. The business which is losing money only has so long before financial reserves run out and it must cease operations.

Similarly, some companies sacrifice customer care and product quality in an attempt to increase current operating profits. However, such behavior often leads to lower customer satisfaction and lower future sales. Reputation is compromised, and the company’s future profits decrease. The current profit and loss statement doesn’t show the real devaluation which has occurred to the company. Nor does the balance sheet.

Another possibility is maximizing the long-term value of your business as an ongoing concern. Measuring this value is difficult, if not impossible. It involves at least three factors. First, the current profits the business yields. Second, the estimated future profitability of your company based upon your company’s reputation and future capability. And, third, the level of risk inherent in how you operate the business.

Whenever you plan to increase present profitability or profits for your company, ask if your actions will compromise future profitability or increase the risk inherent in how you are running the business. Keep an eye to the long-term value of your company. You will invariably have an idea of whether your actions are increasing or decreasing your company’s long-term value.

For example, in an attempt to improve the return on equity (ROE) of a business, some business owners borrow money to leverage operations. As long as the borrowed money can be put to work earning more than the interest rate you are paying, you come out ahead profit-wise and the ROE increases.

However, most knowledgeable small business owners are leery of borrowing too much money. They inherently know that debt increases the danger of a business failing. If sales drop, for example, the interest keeps accruing. That interest and principal must be repaid, even if the use to which the money is put doesn’t generate an adequate rate of return. Trade credit which varies with sales is the safest form of company borrowing.

Yet, debt isn’t completely bad. During good business conditions, adding a bit of debt allows the company to earn more money. These added earnings can be saved as capital for a rainy day.

Especially for cyclical companies, such as automobile manufacturers, retained and conservatively invested capital is crucial to long-term survival. Automobile manufacturers are notorious for earning billions of dollars during good economic times and, then, losing billions of dollars during recessions.

Similarly, financial reserves give a margin of flexibility and safety to a small business. However, small business owners tend to be very one-sided when viewing financial reserves. Small business owners love watching the financial reserves pile up. But, as soon as business conditions degenerate, small business owners hate watching financial reserves dwindle. There is a feeling of failure, a feeling that all that was worked for is in jeopardy. A thought that closing the company and getting out while the getting is good might be the best move.

Rather than viewing financial reserves as necessary to the normal operation of a business, they have come to view the reserves as part of their personal return on their business investment. In the worst cases, extra profits during the good times have been paid out to the business owner and invested in such necessities as a Porsche. Then, when the bad times hit, the business doesn’t have the financial reserves to continue operations.

To be financially successful in business, most small business owners will need to operate their business for many years. It is in the later years when the equity base is large that the biggest financial return will be earned. This is why it is so crucial for your company to maintain a strong financial position which will allow it to repay debt quickly if business conditions change. You need to be able to stay in business.

Extra capital retained within a business can also be ventured on new products or marketing strategies to grow your business. Many new entrepreneurs say, “I’ve got a great idea for a business. It’s a sure thing. It will generate huge financial returns.”

This usually portends a loss of capital. Had the entrepreneur acknowledged the loss of capital was a real possibility, he might have done things differently. For example, maybe the individual wouldn’t have been so quick to mortgage his home heavily and fully deplete his 401(k). The money he risked was not appropriate “venture capital.”

The small business owner’s best source of “venture capital” is the extra profit your current company has generated. Effectively reinvesting this money is a key to financial success. Effectively reinvesting this money will give the greatest chance of growing the long-term value of your company.

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2. Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, by Dr. Seuss
It’s a treatise on doubt, procrastination, loneliness and overcoming your fears in a refreshingly brief 600 words. It may look like a children’s book, but the advice in this Dr. Seuss classic is universal: When you pick yourself up after every setback, success is “98 and 3⁄4 percent guaranteed.”

3. Founders at Work, by Jessica Livingston
If you’ve ever wondered what qualities all successful entrepreneurs possess, wonder no more. Livingston takes a look at several of today’s well-known tech companies, including Apple, Flickr and PayPal. Through illuminating interviews with company founders, you’ll learn valuable–and sometimes surprising–things about how these revolutionaries stumbled on the path to success.

4. The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen
This is an engaging book that explains how big companies are toppled by ignoring innovations from seemingly low-end competitors. Entrepreneurs should read it like a playbook on how to break into markets and catch the incumbents flatfooted.

5. Purple Cow, by Seth Godin
Godin has just one piece of advice for business owners: Be remarkable. You’re either a purple cow (exciting, phenomenal and unforgettable) or you’re just like the rest of them (boring and invisible). The idea is that the key to success is being extraordinary from the start by building the remarkable into everything you do.

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