“These days, it seems any guy who is big in stature is calling himself a bodyguard or Executive Protection Specialist. I receive resumes all the time and sadly the information contained is usually along the lines of: 6″5′, 400 lbs, forty time 4.5 bench press 450 Ibs. There’s usually not much more.

The truth is, any time a client is actually in need of brawn means that someone wasn’t using their brain. And that someone could be you–if you think that this career is about weight-lifting and packing heat.

I recently had the great pleasure of working on a detail to protect former President Bill Clinton on a visit to my state. It was a highlight in my long career serving as an Executive Protection specialist for many reasons–first, Mr. Clinton was a gracious and genuinely nice man to be around, and secondly the Secret Service team was made up of incredibly well-trained, professional and awe-inspiring gentlemen.

Now, let me share something very important with you–the Clinton detail team Leader was maybe 5′8″ and 160 pounds. Not what you might look at and call physically intimidating. No doubt, he’s physically fit and probably above and beyond the average EPS in skills requiring physical confrontation–but here’s the thing:

He will probably never need to utilize those skills.

Why? Because the successful EPS will spend the majority of his/her time and effort anticipating potential problems. He manages to keep the individual to be protected–whether a President or the lead singer in a rock band–out of harms way by preparing for every possible scenario. The time spent on working out at the gym is of no value, if a bodyguard doesn’t understand the importance of these important skills and personal traits:

Ability to avoid and deflect confrontation–if your energy and focus is on a physical confrontation with a stranger, your client will be unprotected from others

Advance work–knowing the location the client is visiting, knowing emergency exits, planning the route

The ability to follow directions to the letter and to communicate clearly and specifically

Detail-oriented: Always planning and thinking ahead

Ability to “blend” with others–thereby drawing less notice to yourself and furthermore less notice to your client

Discretion–meaning, don’t share ANY personal information regarding your client with anyone

Let me address the last point, discretion. Of late, bodyguards to celebrities Kobe Bryant, Anna Nicole-Smith and Lindsay Lohan have chosen to talk to the press about their clients. I hope whatever big payday they’re expecting is worth it, because it is career suicide to discuss your employers’ personal habits. It is a classless and unprofessional thing to do. If your client is doing something illegally and you have a problem with that, then you need to make a decision for yourself as to whether or not you want to work with those circumstances.

In addition to being in poor taste, the bodyguard who shares personal details about an individual is also potentially increasing opportunities for threats to that client. The more information the public has about a clients personal life and tastes–the more of a target that person could potentially become.

It is enough that celebrities are often held hostage in their lives by the general public. They are entitled to some privacy, just like everybody else. As a bodyguard or EPS, you are relied upon to do a specific job and paid extremely well to do this work…and if I’m being truthful here…part of the reason for the high paycheck is the understanding that you will keep your mouth shut. Earning more money from books or news stories by spilling sordid details about your employers private life is greedy, and breaks the trust factor that is so necessary in this line of work. Indiscretion reflects poorly on all of us.

Harlan V. (Hucky) Austin has acquired over 20 years of field experience as a Close Protection Operative/Bodyguard, seven years of which he served as Director of Security Services for Paisley Park Productions. Foremost in his duties at Paisley Park was assuring the safety and welfare of the musical artist Prince, as well as celebrities with whom Prince collaborated or associated with – Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Morris Day, Sheena Easton, George Clinton and Kim Basinger to name a few. see this site

One of the most difficult sections to write in a business plan is the proforma and financial sections. After all it is most difficult to what exact costs you will incur or what level of sales volumes are actually achievable. So often businesses are faced with excess government controls at all levels which take thousands of dollars in fees, additionally legal fees, delays and lawsuits often ensue and slow the project. You cannot know in advance what roadblocks or brick walls city planners, country agencies or Federal Regulators will come up with, as they often change their minds and add new laws in the middle of your already delayed project. These are only a few of the problems facing entrepreneurs when writing financial projections. Other issues occur from an over enthusiastic entrepreneurial positive attitude and business plan writers should double the money needed and triple the time to complete the project to be on a reality based plain. Thus if you beat your projections everyone is happy. Including bankers, investors and yourself. If folks are not happy you may find yourself in court defending yourself and making excuses, many of which many not be your fault, but in the end you are hung out to dry as the buck stops with you.

To assist you in writing your financial projections section of your business plan, I have prepared a sample. This sample is from a most simple business model; a mobile car wash, which is part of a franchise system. Please feel free to print this article out and make notes in the margins and then take a legal pad and sketch out your own financial projections and start-up capital needed. I sincerely hope this sample helps you.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
Financial Projections

We will follow our business plan to keep us in a profitable situation at all times. We will try to keep our car wash truck busy at all times. We will stay on top of collections and make sure all invoices go out on time and are directed to the person who authorizes payment. We will treat cash flow as a primary objective in order to reach our financial projections. We will be sure to have the right mix of services.

Gross Revenue Percentage Breakdown

Personal Car Washing 60%

Graffiti, Industrial, Concrete 20%

Fleet Washing 15%

Other 5%

Gross Revenue:

Insert Graph or Pie Chart Here.

* Note: Car washing of personal vehicles will be 60% of our business. Over 80% of these monies will be collected at the point of sale by either:

· Cash

· Check

· Credit Card

Some will actually be paid in advance on credit cards thus keeping us on the proper course to achieve positive cash flow at all times. Very few customers will be allowed to be billed monthly.

** Note: Fleet washing and industrial (graffiti, concrete, etc.) will only account for 35% of gross receipts. Twenty-five percent of this will be collected at the time the work is done, leaving only 26.25% of gross receipts to be billed at month’s end.

Billing

On fleet accounts, all invoices will be net due in fifteen days. After fifteen days they will be considered late and 2% will be charged. If, in the future, our mix of percentages of services performed changes, we may offer a 2% discount for payment in ten days and a 1% discount for payment between ten and fifteen days. We don’t anticipate changing our mix. However, if our city awards us a graffiti contract for $75,000 a year we will definitely accept it.

Anticipated Gross Sales From Services

In the appendix there is a first year pro forma of projected sales. We believe these figures are attainable. For various reasons we will take a 70% scenario for budgeting purposes in case everything doesn’t go as planned. Just to be on the safe side. We project a conservative gross sales dollar amount to be:

$124,630 Projected Gross Revenue X .70 70% Of Projected Dollars = $ 87,241 A Conservative Safe Number To Project As First Year Gross Receipts

Anticipated Business Expenses

We project costs of $56,112 for our first year of expenses. Please see spreadsheet in the appendix. We will add in a 20% fudge factor just in case we have any unanticipated expenses in year one. We project a conservative business expense dollar amount to be:

$56,112 Anticipated Expenses X .20 20% Fudge Factor = $11,222 Possible Additional And Unanticipated Expenses During Year One

$56,111 Anticipated Expenses +11,111 Unanticipated Expenses = $67,334 Total Anticipated And Unanticipated Business Expenses For Year One.

Profit Per Truck

Please see the graph on the following page of the “Net Profit One Truck”. This graph is based on the spreadsheets “Anticipated Gross Sales From Services” minus “Anticipated Business Expenses”.

We realize that if a conservative approach is taken, we must use the 70% scenario for Gross Sales and add 20% to Business Expenses. We project a conservative net profit for the first truck in year one to be:

$ 87,241 Gross Receipts – 67,334 Expenses = $ 19,907 First Year Profit. $ 19,907 First Year Profit divided by 12 Number Of Months = $ 1,659 Per Month Profit, A Good Conservative Number.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance here. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

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Tags: training, business, workshop, courses, ethics

I often get new clients trying to sell tickets for a workshop or event. It might be that they’ve just run an event, and just about broke even, and never want to be in that position again. Or it could be the fact that the workshop is near enough upon them and panic has set in.

Promoting an event or workshop works very differently from raising the profile of a business and it needs a very different strategy. So, if you’ve got a date looming then read on…

1. Revisit why you are holding this event

Is making money the be-all-and-end-all for you? If it is, then fine, at least you know where you stand. But for many of us it can help to take a slightly different angle of things. I know that many of the low-cost workshops I have run in the past have brought me future clients not only from amongst the attendees, but from the people they have gone on to tell about me. If you look at your event or workshop as a possible teaser or opportunity for people to get to know you and your work better you are perhaps taking some of the pressure off yourself, which can’t be a bad thing.

2. The Money’s in The Mailing List

And I’m not talking about any old marketing mailing list here. I’m talking about your own ezine or newsletter, that regularly shows and tells people what you do, how you can help them and gives you ample opportunities to start advertising and promoting your events well before time. I’m in the lucky position of having a large database of newsletter subscribers and often I only have to mention an event once to have it fully booked. But I’ve put 7 years into building up my subscriber list and that’s not to be underestimated. Indeed, I’d say the best approach is a long term one – focus your attention on building your list up before you do anything else, and the rest will follow.

3. Do Your Research

Don’t just come up with something you fancy running. Do your research and find out if there really is a demand. Run a survey to find out what people want right now. Remember, everything goes in cycles. Be prepared to change. Two years ago everyone wanted me to talk about blogging, last year it was Facebook and at the moment it’s Twitter. Who knows what’s next?

4. Don’t Waste Time on Press You Can’t Reach

How far ahead is your event? If it’s next month there’s no point in targeting magazines that often work three to four months ahead. A short run up to your event means that you need short-deadline press – the radio, Internet and weekly and daily newspapers.

5. Strategic Partners

Who do you know that can help you (and how can you help them?)? I often get people emailing asking me to put their workshop or event into my newsletter. I very rarely do, mainly because I’d be inundated with them if I did. But it’s also interesting to notice how few of them offer to return the favour.

But finding those people who have access to the people you want to reach can work wonders. But go fully armed with why they should help – are you offering a cut or affiliate fee, a free place, help with something completely unrelated in the future. Potentially, strategic partnerships are much more than an opportunity to flog a few tickets. It’s a chance to build a relationship that could benefit the both of you, in the long-term.

6. Make it News-worthy

Press releases singing your event’s praises something aren’t enough. It’s great if you’ve got some good name acts and you know they alone will catch people’s eyes. But if you’re selling something drier and you need to grab the attention of every passing journalist then you need to perk it up and tie your release in with something topical.

7. Give a Taster

If you’re getting inquiries about your workshop but still finding that people are reluctant to part with their money, consider running a pre-event teleclass to give them a taster of what you do, and answer questions on the call. Email them straight after with a special buy-now-and-get-a-great-discount-offer and you’ll find that people are much more enthused to get their credit cards out.

Do Your Own PR shows small businesses how to plan and run their own campaigns. Check out their 30 day PR ecourse here

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Tags: public, relation, tips, promote, workshop

In my nearly twenty years in the publicity industry, I have seen a fair bit of evolution in how the media reaches their audience. Some newspapers and magazines have turned into websites or blogs and several television shows have turned into streaming videos on YouTube. Talk radio seems to be the only media outlet that has remained untouched, right? Wrong!

If we use the 1990′s as a reference point (and all of you radio pros from that era will back me up on this) the landscape of talk radio has most definitely changed from then until now. In the 90′s the average time allotted for a guest interview was anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes and most of the interviews took place in-studio.

Today if you want to find a 45 to 60 minute interview you have to focus on smaller markets (and/or smaller stations in big markets). Why? It all comes down to format. Today, the format for guest interviews in top markets can be as short as 3 to 5 minutes and as long as 10-15 minutes. So the same major market talk show that used to have one guest per hour will now how 3-5 guests in one hour!

Also, say goodbye to in-studio interviews. Most hosts today don’t want guests coming to the studio. Now with shorter interviews, having to meet and greet an in-studio guest can be an unnecessary distraction, not only for the hosts but for other employees at the station as well. And, where quality of sound used to be a factor, we’ve seen enough technological advances in equipment that phone interviews now sound far superior to those of the earlier days.

Ok, so things have changed. But it isn’t necessarily for the worst. Any opportunity to be a guest on a radio show is an opportunity you want to take advantage of – regardless of the amount of airtime, the size of the market or the power of the radio station!

For years I have told my clients about the power of radio, and have watched many campaigns produce fantastic results. Here are just a few helpful tips I share with my clients about the value of talk radio and how to maximize these opportunities to connect with their audience.

Work With However Many Minutes You Have on the Air!

Be careful not to fall into the negative mindset about short interviews. Even if your interview only lasts say 10 minutes, these are 10 very valuable minutes of airtime…just learn how to maximize it!

* Develop those Sound Bites. If you only have 10 minutes to talk about your book, product or service you just need to develop your message so that it’s concise and will grab the audience’s attention. The secret for doing this is to make every word count in being able to communicate your message.

· Know Your Message and Stay On it. Figure out what your key message is and stick with it! You don’t have time to be thrown off topic by the host or caller. When that happens, your job is to briefly acknowledge what was said and bring the conversation back to your message. It can be done as politely as, “…yes, that’s a good point, but…” (the rest of your answer would be your message). This kind of response allows you to keep your manners in so that the host doesn’t feel like you’ve ignored his comment, but at the same time, you’re in control of the communication and able to get your point across.

· Know the Host and the Show. If the show is simulcast on the internet, take the time to listen to it before your interview. This will allow you to get a feel for the overall tone of the show and host and how he or she communicates with guests and callers. It will also give you a feel for the pace of the show. Then when it comes time for your interview, you’ll know what’s expected of you as a guest and you’ll be able to stay in stride. I promise you, the host will appreciate that you’re keeping the same pace and tone as he or she is! The benefit to you? The more the host likes you the more inclined they will be to promote your book, product or service for you!

Bottom line? Advertisers pay hundreds of dollars for a single minute of time on the air. So, a 10 minute interview is very valuable and can be worth thousands of dollars in advertising time!

Only Want a Long Interview? Ditch the Major Markets!

If you only want longer interviews, then look to smaller markets. If you are not sold on the benefits of these seemingly lesser markets, let me share some terrific facts about these rough diamonds:

· Get Your Feet Wet: Interviews in smaller markets give you the opportunity to gain experience as a radio guest providing terrific insight as to the workings and rhythm of talk radio.

· Fine Tune: Knowing your message and knowing the right way to communicate it are two different things. These interviews allow you to test your messages and identify which ones resonate best with the host and listeners.

· Question Time: As a standard rule in talk radio, you always want to provide hosts with sample questions to ask you – as the host won’t always have the time or discipline to study your topic prior to speaking with you. But, after doing a number of small market interviews you’ll know which questions present the best opportunity for communicating your message and keeping listeners tuned into the show!

· ……and a higher concentration of listeners!

Yes, it’s true. In smaller markets, there just aren’t as many stations to choose from as in the larger markets. So, what’s the benefit of this for you? Well, simply put, less choice of stations means listeners aren’t able to do as much channel surfing. Think about it: in Gainesville, Florida there are 3 stations that have a talk show format whereas in San Francisco, California there are 10. So even though the population in Gainesville is minute compared to the population of SF – it’s very feasible to have a larger audience listening to your interview in Gainesville, than the one you conduct in San Francisco. It’s the channel surfing factor at play. In smaller markets listeners have less choice of talk stations to listen to and so they tend to have favorite stations and hosts they often view as a trusted advisor or friend. So being on a small market show with dedicated listeners and a host who endorses your book, product or service, can be far more impacting on your sales.

Not In-studio – Not a Problem!

With in-studio interviews you have to:

· Schedule time off from work;

· Be away from your family;

· Spend time and money on travel (planes, trains and automobiles…remember?);

· Incur cost of hotels and meals while on the road.

And what if you arrive at the station and there’s hot, late breaking news and the show cancels or the interview goes short? Yikes! There goes your time and money down the drain. What a waste!

Radio phone interviews are so much more beneficial for you. Travelling isn’t necessary! Time of day is no longer an issue. For example, if you have an interview on a popular overnight show, you can still do it, but from the comfort of your bed! Just imagine, talking to people all over the country while lounging in your pajamas!

And what about those interviews during office hours? Are you a busy executive? You can integrate radio phone interviews into your work-day, around client meetings, staff briefings or in-between those important reports you’re on deadline to get done. You can even coordinate radio interviews when you’re traveling on business. We’ve had clients conduct live interviews from airports and even abroad on an overseas business trip!

Yes, in-studio interviews are great for establishing camaraderie between you and the host – but that same camaraderie can be created with phone interviews. It just requires that you become more adept at your communication skills so that your ability to have a quality communication isn’t hindered simply because the person isn’t sitting in front of you!

The Take Away…

Even though the face of radio has changed, in many ways it has leaned toward your advantage. By using these tips, you can take make the most of the fantastic exposure that this medium can provide.

Marsha Friedman, CEO of publicity firm EMSI, is a radio personality, speaker and publicity expert. If you would like to receive a free copy of her EBOOK “50 Tips To Becoming a Great Guest On Talk Radio” please visit this site

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Tags: media, relations, workshop, marketing, communication

In my nearly twenty years in the publicity industry, I have seen a fair bit of evolution in how the media reaches their audience. Some newspapers and magazines have turned into websites or blogs and several television shows have turned into streaming videos on YouTube. Talk radio seems to be the only media outlet that has remained untouched, right? Wrong!

If we use the 1990′s as a reference point (and all of you radio pros from that era will back me up on this) the landscape of talk radio has most definitely changed from then until now. In the 90′s the average time allotted for a guest interview was anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes and most of the interviews took place in-studio.

Today if you want to find a 45 to 60 minute interview you have to focus on smaller markets (and/or smaller stations in big markets). Why? It all comes down to format. Today, the format for guest interviews in top markets can be as short as 3 to 5 minutes and as long as 10-15 minutes. So the same major market talk show that used to have one guest per hour will now how 3-5 guests in one hour!

Also, say goodbye to in-studio interviews. Most hosts today don’t want guests coming to the studio. Now with shorter interviews, having to meet and greet an in-studio guest can be an unnecessary distraction, not only for the hosts but for other employees at the station as well. And, where quality of sound used to be a factor, we’ve seen enough technological advances in equipment that phone interviews now sound far superior to those of the earlier days.

Ok, so things have changed. But it isn’t necessarily for the worst. Any opportunity to be a guest on a radio show is an opportunity you want to take advantage of – regardless of the amount of airtime, the size of the market or the power of the radio station!

For years I have told my clients about the power of radio, and have watched many campaigns produce fantastic results. Here are just a few helpful tips I share with my clients about the value of talk radio and how to maximize these opportunities to connect with their audience.

Work With However Many Minutes You Have on the Air!

Be careful not to fall into the negative mindset about short interviews. Even if your interview only lasts say 10 minutes, these are 10 very valuable minutes of airtime…just learn how to maximize it!

* Develop those Sound Bites. If you only have 10 minutes to talk about your book, product or service you just need to develop your message so that it’s concise and will grab the audience’s attention. The secret for doing this is to make every word count in being able to communicate your message.

· Know Your Message and Stay On it. Figure out what your key message is and stick with it! You don’t have time to be thrown off topic by the host or caller. When that happens, your job is to briefly acknowledge what was said and bring the conversation back to your message. It can be done as politely as, “…yes, that’s a good point, but…” (the rest of your answer would be your message). This kind of response allows you to keep your manners in so that the host doesn’t feel like you’ve ignored his comment, but at the same time, you’re in control of the communication and able to get your point across.

· Know the Host and the Show. If the show is simulcast on the internet, take the time to listen to it before your interview. This will allow you to get a feel for the overall tone of the show and host and how he or she communicates with guests and callers. It will also give you a feel for the pace of the show. Then when it comes time for your interview, you’ll know what’s expected of you as a guest and you’ll be able to stay in stride. I promise you, the host will appreciate that you’re keeping the same pace and tone as he or she is! The benefit to you? The more the host likes you the more inclined they will be to promote your book, product or service for you!

Bottom line? Advertisers pay hundreds of dollars for a single minute of time on the air. So, a 10 minute interview is very valuable and can be worth thousands of dollars in advertising time!

Only Want a Long Interview? Ditch the Major Markets!

If you only want longer interviews, then look to smaller markets. If you are not sold on the benefits of these seemingly lesser markets, let me share some terrific facts about these rough diamonds:

· Get Your Feet Wet: Interviews in smaller markets give you the opportunity to gain experience as a radio guest providing terrific insight as to the workings and rhythm of talk radio.

· Fine Tune: Knowing your message and knowing the right way to communicate it are two different things. These interviews allow you to test your messages and identify which ones resonate best with the host and listeners.

· Question Time: As a standard rule in talk radio, you always want to provide hosts with sample questions to ask you – as the host won’t always have the time or discipline to study your topic prior to speaking with you. But, after doing a number of small market interviews you’ll know which questions present the best opportunity for communicating your message and keeping listeners tuned into the show!

· ……and a higher concentration of listeners!

Yes, it’s true. In smaller markets, there just aren’t as many stations to choose from as in the larger markets. So, what’s the benefit of this for you? Well, simply put, less choice of stations means listeners aren’t able to do as much channel surfing. Think about it: in Gainesville, Florida there are 3 stations that have a talk show format whereas in San Francisco, California there are 10. So even though the population in Gainesville is minute compared to the population of SF – it’s very feasible to have a larger audience listening to your interview in Gainesville, than the one you conduct in San Francisco. It’s the channel surfing factor at play. In smaller markets listeners have less choice of talk stations to listen to and so they tend to have favorite stations and hosts they often view as a trusted advisor or friend. So being on a small market show with dedicated listeners and a host who endorses your book, product or service, can be far more impacting on your sales.

Not In-studio – Not a Problem!

With in-studio interviews you have to:

· Schedule time off from work;

· Be away from your family;

· Spend time and money on travel (planes, trains and automobiles…remember?);

· Incur cost of hotels and meals while on the road.

And what if you arrive at the station and there’s hot, late breaking news and the show cancels or the interview goes short? Yikes! There goes your time and money down the drain. What a waste!

Radio phone interviews are so much more beneficial for you. Travelling isn’t necessary! Time of day is no longer an issue. For example, if you have an interview on a popular overnight show, you can still do it, but from the comfort of your bed! Just imagine, talking to people all over the country while lounging in your pajamas!

And what about those interviews during office hours? Are you a busy executive? You can integrate radio phone interviews into your work-day, around client meetings, staff briefings or in-between those important reports you’re on deadline to get done. You can even coordinate radio interviews when you’re traveling on business. We’ve had clients conduct live interviews from airports and even abroad on an overseas business trip!

Yes, in-studio interviews are great for establishing camaraderie between you and the host – but that same camaraderie can be created with phone interviews. It just requires that you become more adept at your communication skills so that your ability to have a quality communication isn’t hindered simply because the person isn’t sitting in front of you!

The Take Away…

Even though the face of radio has changed, in many ways it has leaned toward your advantage. By using these tips, you can take make the most of the fantastic exposure that this medium can provide.

Marsha Friedman, CEO of publicity firm EMSI, is a radio personality, speaker and publicity expert. If you would like to receive a free copy of her EBOOK “50 Tips To Becoming a Great Guest On Talk Radio” please visit this site

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Tags: media, relations, workshop, marketing, communication