1. Adjust your billing cycle.
2. Adjust your pricing strategy.
3. Adjust your collections processes.

[These links are anchors to the sections below.]

1. Adjust your billing cycle.

If your business typically bills net 30 after you deliver your product or service, it’s like you’re loaning your customers money for a month. That might make sense when the economy is booming. But when it’s slow? Not so much. You can help keep the cash flowing by billing net 15 if you normally bill net 30. Better yet, ask for a retainer or a deposit up-front. You bad debt expenses should go down, and you’ll have more cash on hand. (Yes, you may lose a customer or two. But do you really want customers who can’t afford to pay net 15?)

2. Adjust your pricing strategy.

It’s a cliché, but it is all about volume. A small price increase across a wide customer base can put a lot of new money in the bank. Of course, you have to be strategic. Make slight adjustments. Make sure your prices remain competitive. And if customers ask, you can honestly say that your prices should be even higher.

3. Adjust your collections processes.

So you’re a nice guy. Or a nice gal. You’re forgiving. Understanding. Sympathetic. Well, get over it! In a recession, you can’t afford to be “nice” when it comes to collections. Stay within the law, of course, but be aggressive when it’s time to collect overdue accounts. Hire a professional collection agency if necessary. Need some incentive? How’s this: the money you collect today may be the money that backs your paycheck tomorrow. I hope these tips will help you keep the cash flowing in your business…no matter what the economy is doing.

Marena Studios creative approach for the site’s model was simple. Communicate to the user and owner that “No fee=No Brainer”. On the home page the USP’s of going direct is portrayed through a series of lighthearted banners. The overall design of the site is clean and contemporary with a focus on longevity and ease of use.

The studio is also designing all the supporting collateral materials to help launch the site, so be on the lookout for Urban Edge branding in your neighborhood!

Check it out, tell your friends, find a new NO FEE Apartment, save some bucks!

Site is live but still in Pre-Launch phase    http://www.urbanedgeny.com

Cheers! The Marena Studios Team

http://dressedtokilt.com

DEADLINES
Reservation Close September 25
Color Material Close October 2
B/W Material Close October 2

Contact MARENA STUDIOS for rates, creative and placement

DEADLINES
Edit Mention September 9
Reservation Close September 16
Color Material Close September 26
B/W Material Close September 26

Contact MARENA STUDIOS for rates, creative and placement

Crain’s presents a half-day conference examining the future of the arts in New York City. The financial crisis and severe economic downturn have presented unprecedented challenges for the City’s performing arts organizations with declines in both attendance and fundraising. This conference, part of the Crain’s Future of New York City series, examines what is happening, how arts organizations are coping with the economic squeeze and how they are planning to survive and thrive in the future.

PROGRAM

Morning Keynote: Patricia E. Harris, First Deputy Mayor,
City of New York
Breakout Sessions:
The Major Institutions: How Size Matters
The Future of the Theater Business
Beyond the Biggest: Operating with Limited Funds
Fundraising – Where the Money Is
» Click here for more information

DATE
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

TIME
8:30 am – 12:30 pm

LOCATION
Columbia University campus centered on Miller Hall, Broadway and 116th Street

TICKETS
$59 if pre-registered by Sept. 14;
$69 thereafter.
Please note: this event features auditorium seating.

» Purchase your tickets now!

We’ve put together a list of outdated tech terms, phrases that you shouldn’t be using at work anymore because they will make you seem old. This is especially true if you’re looking for a new job. For example, on an interview, you should be talking about “cloud computing,” not “ASPs” even though they are basically the same thing.

This list is useful for 20-somethings, too. Now when the senior person in the office uses one of these terms, you’ll know what he’s talking about.

1. Intranet

Popular in the mid-90s, the term “intranet” referred to a private network running the Internet Protocol and other Internet standards such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It was also used to describe an internal Web site that was hosted behind a firewall and was accessible only to employees. Today, every private network runs IP. So you can just use the term virtual private network or VPN to describe a private IP-based network.

2. Extranet

An “extranet” referred to private network connections based on Internet standards such as IP and HTTP that extended outside an organization, such as between business partners. Extranets often replaced point-to-point electronic data interchange (EDI) connections that used standards such as X12. Today, companies provide suppliers, resellers and other members of their supply chain with access to their VPNs.

3. Web Surfing

When is the last time you heard someone talk about surfing the Web? You know the term is out of date when your kids don’t know what it means. To teens and tweens, the Internet and the World Wide Web are one and the same thing. So it’s better to use the term “browsing” the Web if you want to be understood.

4. Push Technology

The debate over the merits of “push” versus “pull” technology came to a head in 1996 with the release of the PointCast Network, a Web service that sent a steady stream of news to subscribers. However, PointCast and other push technology services required too much network bandwidth. Eventually, push technology evolved into RSS feeds, which remain the preferred method for publishing information to subscribers of the Internet. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

5. Application Service Provider (ASP)

During this decade, the term “Application Service Provider” evolved into “Software-as-a-Service.” Both terms refer to a vendor hosting a software application and providing access to it over the Web. Customers buy the software on a subscription basis, rather than having to own and operate it themselves. ASP was a hot term prior to the dot-com bust. Then it was replaced by “SaaS.” Now it’s cool to talk about “cloud computing.”

6. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

Coined by former Apple CEO John Sculley back in 1992 when he unveiled the Apple Newton, the term “personal digital assistant” referred to a handheld computer. PDA was still in use in 1996, when the Palm Pilot was the hottest handheld in corporate America. Today, the preferred generic term for a handheld like a Blackberry or an iPhone is a “smartphone”.

7. Internet Telephony

You need to purge the term “Internet telephony” from your vocabulary and switch to VoIP, for Voice over IP. Even the term VoIP is getting old-fashioned because pretty soon all telephone calls will be routed over the Internet rather than the Public Switched Telephone Network. It’s probably time to stop referring to the PSTN, too, because it is headed for the history books as all voice, data and video traffic is carried on the Internet.

8. Weblog

A blog is a shortened version of “Weblog,” a term that emerged in the late 1990s to describe commentary that an individual publishes online. It spawned many words still in use such as “blogger” and “blogosphere.” Nowadays, few people have time to blog so they are “microblogging,” which is another word that’s heading out the door as people turn Twitter into a generic term for blasting out 140-character observations or opinions.

9. Thin Client

You have to give Larry Ellison credit for seeing many of the flaws in the client/server computing architecture and for popularizing the term “thin client” to refer to Oracle’s alternative terminal-like approach. In 1993, Ellison was touting thin clients as a way for large organizations to improve network security and manageability. Although thin clients never replaced PCs, the concept is similar to “virtual desktops” that are gaining popularity today as a way of supporting mobile workers.

10. Rboc

In 1984, the U.S. government forced AT&T to split up into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies [RBOCs] also known as Baby Bells. Customers bought local service from RBOCs and long-distance service from carriers such as AT&T. Telecom industry mergers over the last 15 years have formed integrated local- and long-distance carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and Qwest. This makes not only the term RBOC obsolete, but also the terms ILEC for Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., GTE] and CLEC for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., MFS].

11. Long-Distance Call

Thanks to flat-rate calling plans available from carriers for at least five years, nobody needs to distinguish between local and long-distance calls anymore. Similarly, you don’t need to distinguish between terrestrial and wireless calls because so many people use only wireless services. Like pay phones, long-distance calls — and their premium prices — are relics of a past without national and unlimited calling plans.

12. World Wide Web

Nobody talks about the “World Wide Web” anymore, or the “Information Superhighway,” for that matter. It’s just the Internet. It’s a distinction that Steve Czaban, the popular Fox Sports Radio talk show host, likes to mock when he refers to the “Worldwide Interweb.” Nothing dates you more than pulling out one of those old-fashioned ways of referring to the Internet such as “infobahn” or “electronic highway.”

Article provided by Business Week

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On March 17, Apple presented the blueprint for iPhone OS 3.0, the next version of the world’s most advanced mobile platform. The free iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update includes some great new features, as well as all the features from previous updates. iPhone OS 3.0 also lets you run the next generation of iPhone apps, like peer-to-peer games and more. If you’ve never updated before, now is the perfect time.