Contact Cups-A-Plenty of Jasper, GA, at (877) 755-9223 to order environmentally friendly products from our cup manufacturer company. Cups-A-Plenty LLC 20 Confederate Avenue Big Canoe, GA 30143 Phone: (678) 481-7244 Contact Person: Loye Keesee Contact Email: info@cupsaplenty.com Website: www.cupsaplenty.com Main Keywords: cup manufacturer, jasper, ga ...read more

Are thinking about bringing your spouse into your home inspection business? If so, what will they do for your firm? Should they answer the phone for you or engage in home inspection marketing? Some of the worries home inspectors have when they bring their spouse into the business are… - The potential loss of insurance and other employee benefits that the spouse might have with their current employer. - The loss of income from the job the spouse currently has. - The risk of having all of the family income come from one source (your home inspection business). - Will they be able to work and live with their spouse (this should be very carefully evaluated).  READ MORE... ...read more

Chris and Katie Goggans are Savvy Inspectors. Check out three home inspection marketing strategies that Chris shares with the crowd at The Savvy Inspector Workshop. Are you engaged in any of these strategies? If not, you should consider adding them into your marketing plan because they produce excellent results.  READ MORE... ...read more

The fact of the matter is that the home inspection marketing techniques that were solid and reliable for home inspectors to use to reach their target audience in the past are no longer working. This means Yellow Pages ads, newspapers and other types of hard copy advertising are simply not bringing in business. That’s because people simply don’t use them anymore. Home Inspectors that are still using such outdated forms of advertising are throwing away thousands and thousands of dollars on ineffective home inspection marketing every month. If you are one of those people still investing in such ads, ask 10 people where their copy of the Yellow Pages is. Most can’t tell you or will tell you that they put it in the recycling bin shortly after it arrived. What does that tell you about the money you are spending? READ MORE... ...read more

Billboards are quickly filling up again after a short dry spell. Boards like the one in Jasper below are coming up for contract renewal and have available spaces opening up. Since people are in their cars more than ever, NOW is the time to posture yourself on the appropriate billboards before someone else finds out they are available. Contact Choices at 678-389-9687 for local billboard rates and contract periods before all the most visible boards are taken! ...read more

A new safety issue question that has hit the news. Are you driving on new tires that aren't NEW at all? This ABC News video shows some startling information about tires that you may never have known until now. Take a look at this video, then look at your tires... Your life, and the lives of those you love may depend on it. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/aged-tires-driving-hazard-4826897?&clipId=4826897&playlistId=4826897 ...read more

Whether you pre-planned your business start up and looked for a web address (also known as a URL ) just after you set up your business entity (LLC, Corporation, or partnership) or if you've already opened your business and have talked with friends, family, and even customers who insist that you HAVE to have a web site, you are ready to get your URL. You have come up with some names for your web site that sound just right and have checked them out (or had someone at Choices check them out) for availability. The first name you choose is not available so you have moved on to the second version. Success! You finally found a URL that is uniquely yours and it is available... or so you think. The .COM version is taken by someone else, but the .net, .org, and other extensions are available. You are ready to jump on the .net version and claim it as your own, but wait.... Is that the best decision? For churches, schools, groups, and true organizations that are not "commercial businesses," the .org version of the name you want may be OK because you truly are an organization. The .net extension is usually the second choice in URLs and is generally used by businesses who are part of a "network." Not a problem because you certainly want to network to increase your customer base. The challenge is that most people will  AUTOMATICALLY type in the .COM extension and that is owned by someone else. Perhaps getting the URL extensions of .net, .org, .biz is not a great idea for your business because customers may go to the .COM version of your URL and not to your site. Why? Because in the early stages of the Internet .COM was THE extension. You had no choice. If you had a web site it ended in .COM. Commercial businesses setting up e-commerce (online store) web sites were the first to take advantage of this new type of marketing. And there is nothing like the news surrounding the ups and downs of the ".COM Revolution," as it was referred to, to make the name "stick" even more. Now everyone automatically types in the .COM address when looking for a web site. This is why we suggest getting a .COM extension for your web site address as soon as possible even if you are an organization, individual, school, etc. We suggest getting the .ORG extension as well if you are an organization since most people are starting the be retrained into thinking that organizations now have the .ORG extension. The cost for more than one URL is a VERY small charge per year, does not involve setting up an additional web site, and is THE best advertising your business can get BAR NONE! (More on the benefits of getting multiple extensions for your web name at a later time.) So, you purchased your URL, but you have not had a chance to set up a web site yet. If you purchase your URL from one of the major companies, you actually have a web page up as soon as your purchase of the URL is complete. It is known as a "parking page." This is something that certain companies convince you is a FREE benefit when purchasing a URL from them. In actuality, it is not a benefit at all. This parking comes with a price! Your new web address does have the information that your URL is "parked free" (usually at the top left of the page) but the rest of the page is advertising OTHER BUSINESSES that are similar to yours in name or services, so your new URL is actually funneling customers away from your business to someone else!!!!! Here is a picture of a typical "parking page." Our research on many companies has found that they purchased their URL over a year ago, forgotten about it, and still have not set up a web site to take the place of their "parking page." So those URLs have been advertising someone else's businesses for over a year!!!  It is a free parking page because at the top left it does indeed say that ______.com (your URL) is parked free courtesy of _______ (the company you purchased the web site name from.)  It is just doing your business more harm than not having a URL at all. You need to put up an "Under Construction. In the meantime feel free to call or visit us here.... " web page (not the whole web site, just one page) that says your site is under construction. And list your business information with a picture of the outside of your location. (More about how Google likes, and looks for videos and pictures on web sites in one of our later posts.) The SmartBizChoice is to have us purchase your URL for you. When you have Choices purchases your URL, we put up an "Under Construction" page advertising YOUR business. The "Under Construction" page we set up has no room for other companies parking in your lot. This is your piece of real estate! It directs people to YOUR business, not someone else's, and includes the basics of your company including business name, address, phone number and a picture of your commercial location. This page is set up as soon as Choices has confirmation that the purchase has been completed. Our question to our customers is this... did you immediately find someone to set up your web site after you purchased your URL? Did you set up hosting? We suggest Dreamhost since they have great customer service, unlimited plans at a great cost, and a free URL included with the purchase of any hosting plan for the life of your hosting! If you have hosting set up and have a designer lined up, make sure the designer goes immediately to your URL, see what was there, and upload an "Under Construction" page to direct customers to your door. If they have designed web sites before, they should have a simple template on file that they plug your information into before uploading it to your host. Completing that simple step is the sign of a true professional interested in the success of your business and the credibility of their own. So, now that we have new business owners thinking, we suggest everyone with a web site go to your URL and see what is posted there. If you don't have a URL, type in one that you would like to get for your business and see if someone already has a site there. If nothing comes up and there is an error message, more than likely there, no one has purchased that URL name. Then we suggest adding a reminder to your calendar to do a simple check of your URL once a week to be sure that your web site or parking page is still up with your business information on it. Why so often you ask? Because some URLs are directed to blogs and have been set up to allow for comments. Sometimes kids and those interested in sabotaging your business will post comments on your site that have nothing to do with your business and can actually harm your credibility. Like the front and back doors of your business, check your web site once a week at the very least. Choices offers a URL purchase service for your business. For lost cost, super customer service hosting we recommend Dreamhost for the best hosting packages and service available. If Choices purchases your URL for you, a free "Under Construction" page is directed to your business is part of the URL purchase plan. We also offer basic template web sites for a fee of $299 if you want to add more information to your URL. Call Choices today at 678-389-9687 to start your business off right. ...read more

We've just published a new edition of our newsletter! You can check it out on our website and get the latest information from SmartBizChoices. Let us know what you think! Read It Now Here ...read more

                                                                                                                                             Snopes is a site that we at SmartBizChoices use often to check out the facts. As of December 2009, rumors have been circulating that FaceBook will soon be charging for their services. This is a ruse according to Snopes that leads to trouble. (http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/fbcharge.asp) In their words: The protest page was a trap for the unwary; clicking on certain elements of it initiated a script that hijacked users' computers. Some of those who did venture a click had their computers taken over by a series of highly objectionable images while malware simultaneously attempted to install itself onto their computers." Think about it... why would FaceBook start charging for their service? They are already receiving money for the banner ads that appear on the right side of some of the FaceBook pages. And with the number of members they have, the advertisers on these banner ads are paying a premium price. Why would they ruin a good thing? This rumor is something to consider for your business. Just think of something you want everyone to know about your company and spread it around. Isn't that what networking is all about? It is the same with signs. People want to get the "dirt," or as they used to say "the skinny" on other people. Your sign needs to be catchy but on target. That makes it all the more effective. People will actually look for your sign to see what you are trying to say. But more on effective signs in a later blog posting. In the meantime... Go ahead and continue to use your current methods of networking personally and for your business. Add more networking sites if you have time. (If you don't have time, outsource it to the administrative professionals at SmartBizChoices.) And watch what emotion grabbing links you click on. You may lose your computer if you are not careful. ...read more

"Sign, sign everywhere a signBlocking out the scenery breaking my mindDo this don't do that can't you read the sign?" Do you remember that 70's song from Five Man Electrical Band? Check out this blog post regarding signs: Do This Don't Do That Can't You Read The Sign? Friday April 11th 2008, 11:27 am by Steve Portigal  From: (http://www.portigal.com/blog/do-this-dont-do-that/) Earlier this week I spent the day with the design team of a global technology company. I can't say much more but I can share a couple of photographs from different bathrooms. The standard soap dispenser has been repurposed for hand lotion. The soap comes from the other kind of standard dispenser, a foot away, next to the sink..Washing your hands is a fairly unconscious behavior; you assess the space visually and quickly move through the various tasks…so who stops to read the sign that says Hand Lotion? That sign serves more of a "here's how you messed up, buddy" explanation than as a preventative measure. I had a hard time stopping myself from getting hand lotion when I wanted soap. We did have a group discussion about observing signs in the environment to identify workarounds and opportunities for improvement and so I was pleased to have an example from their environment to share back. This ended up in the always enjoyable men's bathroom vs. women's bathroom comparison…in this office the women's bathroom includes a dispenser for hand sanitizer (in addition to soap and lotion). Unfortunately I didn't get in there to take a picture. I was struck by the presumed need for this sign in a different bathroom, explaining what locked and unlocked look like. I had this quick "well that's dumb" reaction, took the picture, used the facility, and then upon exiting realized that I had failed to lock the door! I'm not sure exactly how I managed to not lock it, since that is another automatic behavior. In both cases, the signs themselves caught my attention, but I still exhibited the behavior they were trying to prevent (taking lotion instead of soap, leaving the door unlocked). Does the above message strike a cord? We have signs all around us. Indoors, outdoors… Everywhere just as the song says. Just putting a "sign" or words on a board, building, or vehicle will not always get the attention of your customer enough to move them out of their every day routines to do what the signs direct them to do. When creating your signage for your business (or anywhere else for that matter), your message needs to"pop"as they say in the sign business.  Here are our suggestions for getting the most exposure for your business. Get:     1.    A lighted sign– So your customers will see it bright against the night sky when there is little            competition from other signs, etc.     2.   With avivid color background– To make it stand out during the day.     3.    Limit the textso you can make the font larger for people to read. One of the reasons we chose the colors we did for our web site (www.SmartBizChoices.com) was so that you could see how the site"pops"when you pull it up. The"OPEN"sign on our account is an example of a sign that we sell, so we wanted to promote it. But the color and clarity also"pops"on some monitors in a way that is extremely realistic, vivid, and memorable, which one of the reasons we chose that to highlight our site.  Following the basic suggestions above for creating your signs or web site will make your company more memorable in the eyes of your customer. And isn't that the goal of all your advertising… to make your customer think of you when looking for your product? Contact SmartBizChoices today at 678-389-9687 for signs and more for your business. ...read more

Blogs are an important way to connect your web site to another site to increase your search engine rankings and give you an additional way to reach your customers quickly. Check out the SmartBizChoices Blog at http://www.smartbizchoices.blogspot.com/ to see an example of what we can do to start your blog off right. ...read more