Friday, February 4, 2005

Signing up sales reps

Re: [spiers] Signing up sales reps

Hi John,

On a related matter, I'm beginning a textile import business. many of the
pieces of the puzzle are in place ( designer, contacts abroad) but I'm in need
of
developing the marketing arm of my venture.

Working with marketing reps seems to be a logical direction to approach the
various regions of our country. Any ideas on how I can locate good reps that
would have an interest in my products? Is there some sort of marketing rep
directory to reference?

Thanks,

Dan


Thursday, February 3, 2005

Shipping to Russia

Re: [spiers] Shipping to Russia

I'd say rule #1 is the money for the cars is in your bank account, and then
transfer it to another bank account to be sure, and THEN consider shipping.

If so, then any freight forwarder in the NY phone book can handle the details,
no prob. But are you expert in car dealing? if not, why are the russian
friends working with you?

this gives me pause...

John

Hello,
I Have some friends in Russia who want me to ship some used automobiles to
them. Does anyone know how to go about it or
know a shipping company that will ship from NY to Russia?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Chris


Signing up sales reps

Re: [spiers] Signing up sales reps


>This segmentation of "1099 behavior" between larger established companies
>and smaller newer companies is information in and of itself, in my opinion.
>
>And as John says, your best information should come from a good accountant
>who is up on the latest rules and regs on the issue.
>
>Malcolm Dell

Yes, michael is on to something regarding the reality of biz in USA..."1099
behavior" is just another example of the mess and confusion in trying to comply
with all the rules and regs. As Martha Stewart found out, if anyone in
enforcement wants to nail us, anytime, we are in violation of something,
somehow. The last time a politician mentioned this was Ross Perot 15 years
ago..and well...

A major point in a good CPA is the fact that they are consistent... which the
govt loves... get 3 CPA's in a room and you'll have 4 opinions... and it isn't
just CPA's, it is everyone assisting in compliance... we'll never have anyone
who knows it all, we'll just get someone consistent...

John


Signing up sales reps

Re: [spiers] Signing up sales reps

how did you do it when you were working with sales reps?

Thanks,
-don

well, I consider the sales reps critical, so in my book I give my best
description, including points to discuss... You don't have the book? What?!
The galley is free on the internet, you didn't even bother to steal a copy!?

OK... go to http://proofs.iuniverse.com/0595199550/0595199550b.pdf
and expect to spend about an hour with 56k dial up, or 5 minutes with cable to
download a galley of the book. It is about 5 megs big. It has all the info, but
it is what there is before the proofing sequence in publishing a book, that is,
plenty of typo's yet fixed.

And you can only read it on your computer. What happens is people get tired of
trying to read 360 pages on the screen and then buy the book anyway, which you
can do at
http://www.seattleteacherscollege.net/howsmalbustr.html

REad up on the reps and then work with that to give me your questions...

John


Signing up sales reps

Re: [spiers] Signing up sales reps

Hi, Don,

My wife has a sales rep business serving independent gift stores in Idaho.
About a third of the 40 or so lines she represents send her a 1099 misc
(received most of them in the past few days, as Jan. 31 is the deadline for
folks to mail them out.) I think there are a couple issues, if I remember my
bookkeeping and tax accounting from back a few years:

A) If the person (rep) is genuinely in business and reporting all their
income, there is not a real problem. The kicker comes if someone is not
really registered as a business, and is hiding the commission sales under
the IRS and other taxing authority radar. A 1099 misc is recommended if
there is any doubt.

B) I think there used to be a financial threshold, e.g. $600, where below
that you are not required to file a 1099 misc for someone. (But I may have
confused that with a different regulation.)

As a practical matter, most of the larger gift and souvenir companies we rep
for, automatically put out 1099-misc as a measure of protection against
ambiguous IRS regulations and auditor personalities, regardless of the
dollar amount of the annual commissions. Many of the smaller, newer,
mom-and-pop type of operations do not send them out, I think largely due to
lack of knowledge about the issue, and/or not having a close relationship
with a (paranoid) accountant.

This segmentation of "1099 behavior" between larger established companies
and smaller newer companies is information in and of itself, in my opinion.

And as John says, your best information should come from a good accountant
who is up on the latest rules and regs on the issue.

Malcolm Dell

----- Original Message -----
From: "DL"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 3:03 PM
Subject: Re: [spiers] Signing up sales reps


>
> How is it normally done in the import industry with independent sales
> reps? John, how did you do it when you were working with sales reps?
>
> Thanks,
> -don
>
> wileyccc@aol.com wrote:
> Hello John and friends,
>
> When signing up independent sales reps, do I need the sales reps to fill
> out a W9 tax form for reporting sales rep earnings and send a 1099 MISC to
> the reps at the end of the year?
>
> Thanks,
>
> This is a good question for your CPA, and certainly however your rep wants
> to handle it...
>
> John


Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Shipping to Russia

Re: [spiers] Shipping to Russia

Hi Chris!
Shipping used cars is a very unpleasant business in Russia!
Ask your friends to explain to you how they think they will get around
Russian customs and pay the unbelievable car-tax:
It is approximally 30% of the cost of the car.
Everything else is very simple.....
Prusha . (With Russian connections)
----- Original Message -----
From: "CHRISTOPHER SIMMONS"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 9:04 PM
Subject: [spiers] Shipping to Russia


>
> Hello,
> I Have some friends in Russia who want me to ship some used automobiles to
> them. Does anyone know how to go about it or
> know a shipping company that will ship from NY to Russia?
> Thanks for any help you can give.
> Chris


Shipping to Russia

Hello,
I Have some friends in Russia who want me to ship some used automobiles to them.
Does anyone know how to go about it or
know a shipping company that will ship from NY to Russia?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Chris


Signing up sales reps

Re: [spiers] Signing up sales reps

How is it normally done in the import industry with independent sales reps?
John, how did you do it when you were working with sales reps?

Thanks,
-don

wileyccc@aol.com wrote:
Hello John and friends,

When signing up independent sales reps, do I need the sales reps to fill out a
W9 tax form for reporting sales rep earnings and send a 1099 MISC to the reps at
the end of the year?

Thanks,

This is a good question for your CPA, and certainly however your rep wants to
handle it...

John


Monday, January 31, 2005

Signing up sales reps

Re: [spiers] Signing up sales reps

Hello John and friends,

When signing up independent sales reps, do I need the sales reps to fill out a
W9 tax form for reporting sales rep earnings and send a 1099 MISC to the reps at
the end of the year?

Thanks,

This is a good question for your CPA, and certainly however your rep wants to
handle it...

John


New business catches on...........

Hi John,

I took your online class years ago, I know you mainly talk about
product development but a friend of a friend has been working on a
concept for the past 2 years out of Seattle bringing retail, car
rentals, airline ticketing into a more competitive arena and finally
has some businesses interested. Thought you might like to see the
articles below.

(Took your advise and am a small business retailer of my own custom
adapter for digital cameras see my website
http://www.lensmateonline.com)

Yours in independence, Susan Doel



Experticity gets national exposure in Washington Post "Retailers Tap
High Tech to Aid Shoppers"

(Monday's Business Section, Front Page, January 17, 2005)




----------

Retailers Tap High Tech to Aid Shoppers

Newest Innovations Add Service, Cut Costs

By Michael Barbaro

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 17, 2005; Page A01

A New England supermarket chain will soon roll out an intelligent cart
that downloads shopping lists and warns customers with a flashing image
when it passes a product on their list.

Shoppers at a national electronics store and home improvement chain
who cannot find a salesperson soon will be able to walk up to an
in-store computer, push a few buttons and get help from someone at a
call center in Bangalore.

And a German supermarket has a computer system that projects arrows
onto the floor to direct customers to the products they want.

This week, thousands of retail executives are attending the annual
convention of the National Retail Federation, the shopping industry's
biggest trade show, in New York. The new technologies they will see at
the convention, which ends Wednesday, often shape their decisions about
how to run their stores.

Two trends appear to be driving the push for innovation, analysts
said. Retailers are encouraged by consumers' willingness to use
self-checkout lanes and price scanners, technology that has reduced the
reliance on store employees. And stores think they have to make bolder
moves in the face of a hyper-competitive retail landscape that prizes
efficiency and cutting costs.

Retailers have spent millions of dollars on technologies that squeeze
savings out of manufacturing and distribution. Now, retailers and
technology companies are zeroing in on the more visible part of the
process: the sales floor.

"Retailers have hit a wall -- they can't really cut any more costs out
of those backroom operations anymore, so they are moving [technology]
into the store, said David Hogan, who oversees technology for the
Washington-based National Retail Federation trade group.

The new technologies do more than save money, though. For the chains
that adopt them first, executives said, they create a distinctive
shopping experience. "It's a form of entertainment," said Craig
Childress, director of prototype design research at Envirosell Inc., a
worldwide market research and consulting firm based in New York.

Most of the new technologies are just beginning to reach stores -- in
some cases, for test runs that may never turn into full adoption by
retailers. The retail landscape is littered with much-ballyhooed
technologies that flopped -- because consumers rejected them outright
or they were too expensive or they were deployed before their time.

Back in the early 1990s, it was the electronic shelf labels -- small,
digital price tags whose numbers could be changed though a central
computer -- that were supposed to revolutionize retailing, by reducing
labor costs and human errors. But only a handful of supermarket chains
adopted them; the rest found them too expensive, said Dan Hopping, a
retail technology consultant for International Business Machines Corp.
of Armonk, N.Y.

IBM is developing a system called Everywhere Displays, which can
project product data onto any surface in the store, from the walls to
the floor. The computer system, undergoing tests by the German
supermarket chain Metro Group, incorporates an overhead projector, a
camera and mirrors to create an image that responds when touched, much
like the screen of an ATM machine. Instead of a sensor that detects
pressure, Everywhere Displays use a camera that detects motion.

Shoppers can scroll through a menu projected on the wall or floor to
find a bottle of wine, for example. Information about the wine's
vintage and price then pops up. Arrows form along the floor leading to
the bottle. "It turns the whole store into a computer terminal,"
Hopping said.

Childress said that with many big-box stores now exceeding 100,000
square feet, tools that help customers find products "are becoming
incredibly valuable." His firm, Envirosell, has found that after a
store reaches 50,000 square feet, even frequent customers have trouble
remembering where some products are, Childress said.

National electronics, home improvement and car rental chains have
agreed to test a salesperson outsourcing system developed by
Experticity LLC of Seattle, according to its chief executive, D.L.
Baron. The customer-service system, Nextprise, uses a PC, a two-way
camera and an Internet connection to allow customers to talk to
outsourced workers in cities such as Manila and Bangalore, India.

The firm says the technology means stores will only have to pay for
help during peak hours, Baron said, compared with a typical eight-hour
shift for salespeople who might be needed for only a fraction of that
time. "At 12 p.m. on a Saturday, you cannot have enough employees on
the sales floor," he said. "But by 3 p.m., they are just standing
there," Experticity would bill retailers by the minute for every
interaction with a customer. "I can put 20 people on the sales floor
for 20 minutes, if needed," he said.

It also creates a small pool of experts in different departments, such
as plumbing or digital cameras, who can simultaneously "work" inside
hundreds, if not thousands of stores from a single call center. To
access a remote salesperson, a customer can touch the computer screen
or it can be set to automatically recognize a person as he or she walks
by. Customer service can also be provided in dozens of languages. The
cost: generally less than $40,000 per store, Baron said.

Retail analysts warn that a live on-screen employee may be viewed as
impersonal, and that Internet connection disruptions could leave a
store that relies on Web-based employees short on staff.

Robert Spector, a retail historian and author of "The Nordstrom Way,"
said retailers who fall in love with these technologies run the risk of
alienating consumers. "There needs to be a human there to help you
out," he said. "That makes customers feel valued."

In fact, some new technologies are designed to ensure store staff
spend more time with customers.

Vocera, a wireless, voice-activated phone system, allows retail store
employees to call anyone else within the company -- an employee at
another store, for example, or a product specialist at corporate
headquarters -- through a light-weight badge worn on a chain around
their necks.

The goal is to eliminate the need to leave the sales floor, which can
result in missed sales transactions.

A department store salesperson who discovers a shortage of Ugg Boots,
for example, can utter "inventory control" into the device to instantly
locate the nearest pair. "The point is to stay with that customer and
face them at all times" said Victoria Holl, director of marketing at
Vocera Communications Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., which makes the
system.

Traditional walkie-talkie systems are heavy, the broadcasts can be
heard by everyone in the system and calls generally cannot be placed
outside the store, she said. So far Vocera is in use at Apple Computer
Inc.'s retail stores, and both Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. are
testing it in their stores, Holl said.

Another technology that has moved beyond the test phase is the
intelligent shopping cart, to be introduced at 20 Stop & Shop
Supermarket Cos. stores over the next several months after a successful
test-run at a handful of stores. The carts, which were developed by IBM
and its partner, Cuesol Inc. of Quincy, Mass., are equipped with a
wireless touch screen computer, which doubles as a product scanner.

Besides downloading grocery lists, the cart lets consumers place deli
orders while they shop, then notifies them when the food is ready to be
picked up. When products are scanned into the cart, the computer can
display its price, nutritional information and recipe ideas, according
to IBM. It evens keeps a running tally of how much a customer spends.


----------

Published Sunday
January 2, 2005

Hospitality industry goes more high-tech




----------



NEW YORK (AP) - The virtual concierge got those tickets you wanted, and
the touch screen will take your order now.

As the new year begins, these and other high-tech services are
becoming more commonplace in the hotel and restaurant industry.

Virtual concierges from Experticity Inc. provide live on-screen
assistance, using a video link to a real person working from a central
location. Although the concierge is not located in your hotel, he or
she uses information technology to get you directions, tickets,
reservations or other amenities wherever you are located, 24/7.

Touch screen technology - called eMenu, from Ameranth Inc. - allows
you to place an order from your table, or upon entering an eatery,
without waiting for the waiter or waitress. Menus, prices, descriptions
- including nutritional analyses - and other options appear on a
computer screen. You make your choices and can also enter a credit card
number to pay for it. While you're waiting, you may be able to check on
your flight or let your child play a computer game.

Other high-tech services you'll be seeing more of include high-speed
Internet connections in your room, access to videos-on-demand and
reservations for hotel amenities such as spas and massages that can be
made through your room's TV.

Digital drink dispensers, from a company called Ontap4u, may
eventually replace mini-bars and vending machines. These new machines
dispense four- or eight-ounce glasses of fresh juice, wine, mixed
drinks and soda in your room; they'll be introduced in a few hotels in
the spring in the New York area and next summer nationally.

Microsoft has brought a number of technology companies together with
the lodging industry to develop many of these services as part of a
"Smarter Hospitality" initiative.

Hotels already employing some of these technologies include the Boston
Park Plaza Hotel and Towers, where services include a virtual concierge
and access to extensive entertainment options and online information
directly from in-room TVs; and the Holiday Inn in Duluth, Ga., where
you can use tablet PCs in the hotel restaurant or in your room to order
food, check the weather, read the latest news or shop.

Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom

Copyright ©2004 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or distributed
for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.


Signing up sales reps

Hello John and friends,

When signing up independent sales reps, do I need the sales reps to fill out a
W9 tax form for reporting sales rep earnings and send a 1099 MISC to the reps at
the end of the year?

Thanks,
-don