Blogging for Business, Keeping Your Fiances Straight

It's Time For More than Bouncing!

Magic Jump introduces game-playing inflatables! Play a board game right in your moonwalk. No more, "Mom, I'm Bored" when you can roll the dice and play a fun bouncing board game right inside your inflatable with giant dice and fun animal characters! Pre-order your bounce house game today!!

What's a Blog and How Can it Help My Business?

By Scottie Claiborne ©2006   

The Myth and Promise of the Web Log

What's a Blog?

In it's simplest form, a blog is a very simple content management system where nearly anyone can post their thoughts or words in a matter of seconds. Blogs have made the internet accessible for anyone with typing skills- no need to learn HTML or a complicated interface.

Blogs display the most recent posts first and then older posts appear after it, in chronological order. The most common usage for a blog is as a journal, either personal or business-related.

What's So Special About Blogs?

Well, not much. They don't have any magical properties. Blogs are an excellent way to give multiple people access to keep information updated or to chronicle your own thoughts and observations. They don't have any special properties for search engine rankings nor do they automatically attract visitors.

What they do have is a "ping" system that notifies the major weblog search engines and social networking sites when you make a new post. If you have popular content and a wide audience, this is a great system to keep people in touch with your blog. If you don't have much to say, or your posts are very specific to your business, it's unlikely that you'll see much traffic from weblog pinging.

If your blog is active though, it does create new content on your site. Every new page on your site has the ability to rank well for the terms on the page, so if blogging is something you are really into, it can create valuable content on your site.

How can Blogging Help a Moonwalk Rental Business?

Create a blog and write your reviews of local children's events- definitely the ones you work and try to cover some of the ones you'd like to be a part of as well! Take pictures and post great descriptions and you may find your page ranking well for that event- if it's an annual event, you are likely to get some traffic from parents interested in the event for years to come.

Once found, local parents may bookmark your site and return regularly to get ideas about where to take their kids, while event oragnizers may track it to keep up with the latest developments in children's events in your area.

With the parent's permission, create a review and photo area of the parties that you work. People love to see their event in "print" and it creates an awesome portfolio for your company. Emphasize the fun, take some digital pictures, get comments from the parents and kids at the event about how AWESOME your inflatables are, and you've got a powerful testimonal to the fact that your company brings the fun!

The top complaint of many small businesses about their website is that it is just too complicated to keep up with- so they let descriptions get out of date and delay adding new equipment. With a blog, everything is easy to set up and maintain and you can learn it in minutes.

Where Do I Get a Blog?

Here are some of the more popular blogging software solutions:

• Blogger- this blog solution from Google allows you to host your blog on their site (blogspot.com) or your own. It's fairly easy to set up, especially if you use their templates. However, with a little expertise or a designer at your side, you can customize your blog however you like. If you'd just like to link to a blog from your site, or you don't have a site at all and want to host it at Blogspot, Blogger is your answer.
• Moveable Type- This popular blog software must be uploaded to your site. It's flexible and customizable and expandable. As your needs grow, Moveable Type can grow with it.
• WordPress- This is a blog you host on your own site. With it's "Pages" feature, it can run your entire site from a simple interface. Wordpress "extensions" can be added quickly and easily to allow your site to do different things, like include a calendar!

To create an entire site using blog software, I highly recommend you use a designer experienced in design and setup for the blog software of your choice.

The best thing about the above blog solutions is that they are free! So, adding a blog to your site doesn't cost you anything except your time and effort. Why not give it a shot?

Piercing the Corporate Veil

By Scottie Claiborne ©2006   

It may seem like a small deal to you... you realize you don't have your personal debit card with you, so you pay for the groceries out of your business account. As long as you put the money back, it's ok, right?

Then, at the car repair shop, the bill is bigger than you thought, so the business card comes out to cover it. Or, vice versa, you need some balloons and don't have the business card with you- so you put it on your personal card. It's all a path to bankruptcy or personal liability, say top small business experts.

Personal Bankruptcy = Business Bankruptcy

Alan Hauff, small-business specialist in the College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri St. Louis, says this: "Credit cards can be "kind of playing with fire," Hauff said, unless the entrepreneur takes care to keep business and personal expenses and income separate.

"They think the money that the business earns is their money," Hauff said. "They think that when the business needs money, they just go to their bank account and take it."

Even if you've set up your business as an LLC, if creditors can prove that your business and personal accounts are mixed, you may end up losing both to the bankruptcy process. In a legal dispute, mixed accounts may also cause you to be held personally liable for business liabilities.

Tax Implications

Mixing business and personal finances has other implications when it comes to tax time. You could lose deductions that you've missed because they weren't in the right account. Your records must show a clear trail of income and deductions and the more "creative accounting" you have to do to keep expenses in thr right category, the bigger your headache will be!

Set It Up Right and Stick To It

If you don't already have a business account set up, do it this week. Business accounts do typically cost more to maintain than personal checking accounts, but that is one of the costs of business that you should have accounted for in your business plan.

Keep personal expenses in your personal account, and business expenses in your business account.

Pay yourself a set amount from your business account on a regular basis. Whether it's weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, set up an automatic transfer if you can. You can always pay yourself a bonus from extra funds if need be, but try to be as consistent as possible with both business and personal funds.

Correcting Accounting Snafus

Ok, so you've already messed up some of your purchases and transfers this year- this excellent article on accounting for personal and business expenses (.pdf format) can give you some insights on correcting the entries and accounting properly for them in your business books.

Once you've cleaned up your past mistakes, you've got a clean slate! Make sure to use the proper account for all expenses going forward, not only for tax and legal protection reasons, but also to give you the clearest possible picture of where your company is headed and where all the money goes. If you don't know where you've been, it's a lot harder to chart where you are going!

Startup Journal Part II

By Vincent Rutigliano,©2006

Time for Name

How to Decide on Equipment?

I took my friend's offer and attended IAAPA. WOW I was in awe the first day and couldn't believe not only how many inflatables were there, but all the other amusement things that were available. I'm really glad I went. I met many people, owners, sales people and most importantly other inflatable rental owners. In my opinion the best part of the show is meeting the people who are in the same business you're looking to get into. I asked them for their business cards first, then what units they are renting, how business is, and the good parts and bad parts of the inflatables rental business.

Luckily I was able to find a couple of companies that were here on east coast like I am. They could relate to the short season we have and made some excellent points and some really great suggestions. I looked at all kinds of inflatables and asked a lot of questions. After seeing the prices of some of the units and knowing what I saved to get started (including what I was told by my attorney and my insurance agent) I thought I would be in pretty good shape.

Now came the hard part. I decided NOT to buy while I was out at IAAPA because I wanted to speak with my family about what kind of units to buy. Bounce only, Combo's, slides, etc. I made sure that I could still get the show price even after the show for a period of time. Just about all the manufactures said yes. I was pretty sure when I left IAAPA that I knew what I wanted and who I was going to buy from.

Well, all that changed. After looking at my notes and about 30 different catologs that I picked up I continued to check online for specials and if I could find someone else with more information regarding the inflatable business. Well I did, and it was because of this web site and the gentlemen who was kind enough to put up with me I decided to buy from him and used many of the things he offered on his web site.

His name was Arsen and his company is Inflatable USA and their web site is www.hullabaloosales.com. I found through all my research that Arsen's web site had more information than any other that would help a new company answer many questions. Arsen is also a distributor of many manufacturers of inflables and for the most part he was able to match anyone's price. After many phones calls back and fort hI finally made a decision to buy inflatables manufactured by Cutting Edge Creations from Arsen's company Inflatable USA. He not only matched the special pricing from Cutting Edge but was very accomodating when it came to payment. He also was able to guide me in using a professional rental contract and many other things needed when renting to your customer. THANKS, ARSEN!

Going to IAAPA helped me to sort out what I wanted, but it was the support and help available online that finally convinced me to place my order.

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A-IRCO.COM- Designed for Consumers

Boosting the Entire Inflatable Amusement Industry

By Scottie Claiborne ©2006

Last month we announced the launch of A-IRCO.COM- the AIRCO site for consumers. This month, we'll give you some more details about how becoming active at A-IRCO.COM can benefit your business.

A-IRCO.COM is Designed to Showcase the Inflatable Rental Industry

We'll be publishing tips for consumers on being safe, naturally, but we'll also be publshing lots and lots of great party and event ideas that center around inflatable amusements. We'll be working with party idea sites to cross-promote fun and original party ideas that will encourage even more people to book an inflatable ... or 3... for their next party or event.

How Does Your Company Benefit?

Have you seen a great idea where a party or event used your inflatables to really make the theme pop? Have you been wowed by a creative use that involved your inflatables? Post your great party and event ideas at A-IRCO.COM!

Your company will get a link back to your site for each published idea you submit, which drives traffic to your site and helps with search engines. Not to mention the fact that YOU carry the inflatables mentioned in your party idea, creating more demand for that specific style or theme.

Hmnn... What Exactly Does That Mean?

Ok, here's an example: The castle moonwalk. How many different party themes can you fit a castle moonwalk into? Hundreds! We've started with a few, but adding more ideas may help inspire moms to create that special birthday party with the castle moonwalk in mind!

Trying to promote your money machine or balloon typhoon? Why not post some fun ideas for using the money machine or balloon typhoon and help to raise the demand for these items for everyone! You can link to the idea pages (that contain your's and other company's best ideas) to help promote your own items and give people ideas for integrating them into your events. It's a win-win proposition for everyone!

How Do I Participate?

Simply register at A-IRCO.COM and either add comments to an existing topic, or start your own! It will take a while to build the site up from a content point of view as well as a promotional sense, so get in now and have those long-term links pointing to your site.

Hot Threads at the Forum

Interesting Discussions

SUPER DEFLATOR is a Time Saving, Money-Making Machine!

CUT deflation to a fraction of its time! Walking on the unit is no longer needed! REDUCE the effort it takes to deflate ANY inflatable! IMPROVE handling of ALL your inflatables, make tighter rolls with no extra effort! Great testimonials- rental companies love them!

Wrap Up

Dont' forget tonight's chat with Bob Field of Cutting Edge! You'll need to be logged in to the forum, then click Chatboz and select tonight's chat with Bob Field from the list!

Fall is just around the corner!

Whether your business is speeding up or slowing down right now, fall is just around the corner! Fall is typically the busiest time of the year for many companies. Are you prepared?

You may need additional employees (or different employees as your summer help goes back to school), new equipment, more marketing. Plan NOW to be ready for the heyday of fall!

IAAPA Is Getting Closer

IAAPA has opened registration for this year's November show! You can print a registration form or register online. Remember to get the best rates, you need to register before Oct 2. IAAPA members get an even bigger discount.

Although our Expo hasn't found a new home, we are planning several events in place of it. We will be holding a Meet and Greet on Wednesday night with Vendor Tables where you can get to know the moonwalk (and related industry) vendors in a more casual and fun setting. We'll also be holding our educational seminars on Thursday, so plan to attend! (Rumor has it that Fun Pro Insurance will be sponsoring a dinner on Thursday night, so pencil that into your datebook as well. Details to follow.)

Moonwalk Magazine

Yes, it's still coming! Technical difficulties have held up the progress, but once it gets going you'll get one every other month! We've got lots of content waiting for production and we welcome any articles you may want to contribute as well.

As always, if you've got a great idea for an article, send it to us at scottieclaiborne@a-irco.org. Your ideas are more than welcome.

See you next month, or feel free to join us at the AIRCO moonwalk forum anytime, day or night. We'd love to hear from you!