New York SBDC Research Network

Law, accounting, consulting, advertising, public relations and human resources software, insurance, property management. These are some of the intangibles. They present marketing challenges to the entrepreneur trying to get the word out about their businesses. Below are a few articles that discuss some of the issues that face these services and how they can show potential clients something they can get their hands around.. Selling Your Services Pop quiz: How do you sell something you can’t touch? We've got a few answers August 28, 2000 By Danielle Kennedy Ten Myths about Selling Intangible Services By Charles H. Green Trusted Advisor Associates SWOT Team: Selling the Intangible Marketing Profs.com By Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll October 26, 2004 Selling the Intangible: The Value of Perceived Security IMAGE SUBSTATION Corporate Identity Consultants By Hamish Chadwick Carolina Entrepreneurship Club Business Resource Center How to Understand Your Customers

Health Status, Health Insurance, and Health Services Utilization: 2001 - How often do Americans use health care services? If you're looking for an answer, this report may be "just what the doctor ordered." It provides data on the frequency of visits to doctors, dentists and hospitals and whether or not people are taking prescription medicine - by characteristics such as self-reported health status, age and health insurance coverage status. Internet address: http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p70-106.pdf .

The Research Network is happy to announce the hiring of Amelia Birdsall, who will be starting her time with the SBDC on May 1st. Since Josee Fonseca will be unable to attend the upcoming Staff Conference, she will be working with Amelia - in a very quiet office - in introducing her to the ropes. Amelia graduated from the SUNY at Albany library program last December, and interned with both Empire State Development (where Mary Beth interned several years ago), as well as with the NYS DEC library. She had been working part-time at a local public library, but she now eagerly enters the world of specialized business librarianship. She comes highly recommended by those who've worked with her in the recent past, and we (Al Scher, Josee & myself) were very impressed with the answers given during her interview. We're all certain that you, too, will be impressed with the answers she'll be providing as a member of our library team.

Last night I attended an event held by the NYS Writers Institute program at the University at Albany where Elizabeth Kolbert , a journalist for the New Yorker and the New York Times discussed her new book, " Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change ." This book grew out of a series of articles on climate change Kolbert wrote for the New Yorker that hoped to get the full story on climate change or global warming. Kolbert described her experiences in Alaska and Greenland, noting the dramatic changes that have already occurred. She also discussed the disconnect between the scientific community and the lay community. Apparently the majority of the scientific community not doing research sponsored by energy companies, agree that we are in a dire situation that needs immediate attention. The damage we do now will have a knock-on effect that will severely affect our children. From the point of view of small business, I wondered what if anything was happening. W

Last May, at Staff Training in Lake Placid, we had some special visitors from the province of Zhejiang, China at Staff Training this year. Mary Hoffman send out an e-mail to alert staff about the sensitivities of hosting international dignitaries, a message that may have future applicability: The following notes are excerpts from several sources regarding protocol for interactions with visitors from other countries. The cardinal rule that should guide your thoughts as you plan to receive international guests or travel abroad is: "When in doubt, err on the side of excess." One doesn't have to apologize for being too kind and respectful - but one cannot recover from an affront and disrespect. Often what Americans might view as appropriate would be seen as minimal in many other cultures. As members of the global community, a sensitivity and understanding of cross-cultural protocol is vitally important. It is very important to ensure that neither your actions, nor your appear

Many clients come to your doors telling stories of how they gave money to some organization - be it an inventors assessment program, or a grants provider group - only to have regrets soon after. I recently received an e-mail from Walter Reid, an advisor with the Farmingdale SBDC. He'd been keeping me posted regarding a client who sent $1,000 to the National Grants Conferences, an organization that promises attendees of their conferences with the "secrets" on how to obtain "free" government money for any number of endeavors. Walter took it upon himself to write a letter on behalf of the client, insisting on his money back. Recently, the client received a check for the full amount. Persistence, then, can pay off. If you're interested in Walter's methods, give him a call down in Farmingdale. I know that there've been several clients with bad experiences with NGC and similar types of organizations. In fact, go here to read about other people & their

Before anymore is added to the pile on my desk...here are the latest additions to the collection both purchased and donated: SRDS The Lifestyle Market Analyst 2006 Media Solutions Federal Yellow Book: Who's Who in Federal Departments and Agencies Leadership Directories Spring 2006 Congressional Yellow Book: Who's Who in Congress, Including Committees and Key staff Leadership Directories Spring 2006 2005 New York State Staistical Yearbook 30th edition The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government Don't Make me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability Steve Krug Constructing Accessible Web Sites Jim Thatcher, Paul Bohman, Michael Burks, Shawn Lawton Henry, Bob Regan, Srah Swierenga, Mark D. Urban, Cynthia D. Waddell You Need to be a Little Crazy The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Business Barry J. Moltz Staying With It: Role Models of Perserverence Emerson Klees Entrepreneurs in History Success vs. Failure - Entrepreneurial Role Models Emerson Klees No More