Wasted Food in Businesses Should Be Donated - But Logistics Challenges the Common Good

One thing our think tank routinely discusses is how to solve the problems with starvation and hunger. In the US we have it pretty good, very rarely does anyone in our 300 million plus population die from starvation, I'd say that's a good thing. In the rest of the world, things are not so good, thus, such tragedies are all too common. Perhaps, when you were young your mother told you to eat all the food on your plate because there were people starving in Africa, China, India, or whatever nation she mentioned, well, that was true then, and it's still true today. Okay so let's talk.

It is my sincere belief that there is no food shortages in the world for human consumption, rather there is a distribution problem, and the same is true in the US with companies wasting food at the end of the day. Not long ago, I was reminded of this by a college student who wants to start a food drive, she stated that only;

"10% of food businesses donate their unsold food items at the end of the day to local food banks and homeless shelters."

That's not good you say - No that isn't good is it - especially for a major city in the US, and a nation of abundance.

Right so we have a distribution problem! And we are mismanaging our resources, while everyone runs around asking the government to fix the problem, so they want to raise taxes, which will make it worse. You see, there are more than enough people willing to volunteer, but we keep punishing those who help.

If a business donates food, and someone gets sick, some lawyer will sue, but we keep demanding more laws and regulations. Then a common sense solution like this comes along (pick up the food not used and deliver it to the local charity) and needs to battle the red-tape, and convince small and large businesses to give again - but they've been burned so many times, and folks don't even understand why these volunteers and businesses are less than interested in helping anymore.

How do you suppose I know about such things? Simple, I've been using my company to help the common good for decades, prior to retirement, and it is amazing what you have to go through just to help people, it's really a shame, then when the government tries, it just wastes more money, raises taxes, and the whole problem is unchanged for the most part. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative eBook on Community Fundraising. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net

Restaurants Should Consider Participating in Community Food Drives to Drive Consumer Loyalty

Many in the restaurant business are very much concerned that the US economy might go into a double dip recession in 2010, and although many economists say this is not likely, many other economists say it's more than possible. Why you ask? Much of it has to do with the job market. Both retailers and restaurants need to have those consumers back working, so they have the money to spend again. Consumers have cut back drastically, and all the businesses are vying for the same dollar, there just aren't enough to go around.

What can a local community restaurant do to keep up with the chain store restaurants, which are low-balling prices and having price wars and special discounts on their menus? What can a neighborhood restaurant that's been in business for 20 years, but doesn't have sufficient cash flow to compete with the mass marketing of the chains do at a time like this? If you are restaurant owner, I know you have questions like this, and since I know a little bit about the topic - I'd like to offer you some simple advice.

You need to get back to grassroots marketing, you need to participate in the local community, and participate in Community Food Drives, where you donate the left-over food that you can no longer sell or serve at the end of the day. Even if it is a small amount of potential wasted food each day, every little bit helps, especially when community food banks are at an all-time low, and completely on the verge of bankruptcy.

Why not call up the local food bank, ask to speak with a representative, tell them what kind of food that you have at the end of the day usually that you can donate, and find a volunteer that can come pick up the food and take it back to the food bank. Then take a picture of your employees under the sign of the food bank and hang that up in the lobby of your restaurant. Likewise, you should call the local newspaper and challenge other community restaurants to do the same thing.

In fact you should form your own coalition and local community association of restaurants, even set up a social networking site on Ning dot com. You should find ways to co-op your marketing with other mom-and-pop restaurants in your city and town. Even suggesting that local folks go out to dinner twice a week at one of the association member's restaurants. You would be surprised how much you can do with very little money and community-based marketing. But you have to think out of the box, and you need to get started today. Please consider all this from your local community restaurant consultant.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes it's hard to write 20,000 articles; http://www.bloggingcontent.net/

Note: All of Lance Winslow's articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers.

Video Production Business Tips - Why Wedding Videographers Should Move to Corporate Video

My main focus in the video production business is to figure out how I can use my talents as a video producer to make the most money with the least amount of effort...all while building a business asset that will someday allow me to retire and travel the world while I'm still young enough to actually enjoy it!

My personal income has increased by about 750% since I started my video production business back in 2000 and the gross sales revenue for the company has grown by over 1200% in the same period of time.

I'm not anywhere close to my definition of wealthy but I'm a heck of a lot closer now than I was 9 years ago when i started this journey as a video business owner. The point I'm trying to make in this article is that the turning point for my wealth and the success of my video business was when I decided to stop pursuing wedding video business and to focus 100% of my efforts on selling, producing and delivering corporate video presentations.

The fact of the matter is that when you sell a wedding video, you are asking a family to give you money out of their personal checking account. When you sell a corporate video, you are asking someone to write you a check out of their business checking account.

The difference is that businesses typically have thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions or even billions of dollars they can tap into in order to purchase your services whereas a family (wedding client) usually has to go into debt to purchase your services.

Which group of people do you think provides the most opportunity for your video business?

Based on my experience, I'd vote corporate every time. Assuming you agree or at least that you are interested in exploring it further, here's some insight on making the transition from wedding videography to corporate video production.

Please keep in mind that I have nothing against wedding videography and I know that many of you choose to produce wedding videos because you do not enjoy corporate video production. This article isn't for you.

My uncle Grayson, also an entrepreneur, told me when I first started my video production business that I should always try to sell services that would enable me to make the most money possible with the equipment/software I had invested in.

He added that to sell services that were any less than the most your equipment could produce was not good business and would someday lead to trouble. I must admit that at the time I didn't really understand what he meant. However, after all the lessons I've learned by having my feet in the fire, I know without a shadow of doubt that he was and is absolutely right!

Your $5,000 video camera can be used to produce a $2,000 wedding video. It can also be used to produce a $20,000 training video. The same goes for your editing system, software, etc. Assuming you are a fairly competent editor, you can probably edit the wedding video in about 40-60 hours which means if you work a normal work week of say 50 hours, you'll be able to produce about $10,000 per month in revenue for your business.

And that's humping it...not leaving you much time to do anything else to build or run your video production business.

You can plan, shoot and edit the training video in the same one month period of time and due to the nature of the training video market segment, you can command anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 in fees per video. See where I'm going?

Producing corporate videos will generate you anywhere from twice to five times the income in one month than wedding videos will produce and you can do all or most of it with the same production equipment and software you have now.

So, you can dispel the myth that you have to have more gear to produce corporate videos. It simply isn't true. You can rent what you don't own and pass the costs through to the client.

Assuming that you are on the same page with what I've mentioned above, doesn't it make sense to start to gradually shift your thinking to figure out how to get any or a lot of the corporate video business in your area? Yes it does!

Even a small share of the corporate market will dramatically increase your revenue and therefore result in a fatter wallet.

I could write a book on moving from weddings to corporate (and some day I probably will!) but for the sake of my time and yours, I'll limit this article to a small handful of tips.

1. Pay attention to what the families of the bride and groom do for a living.

Expensive weddings usually mean there is someone on either the bride or groom's side that has money. Many of these people are either executives for major companies or entrepreneurs of some sort. Target the father's of the bride and groom to chat with when you are standing in line at the buffet and simply ask them what they do.

(The mother of the bride and groom will still be crazy over the details of the wedding/reception so approach them after the dust has settled on the event.)

If they work for a business or own a business, briefly pitch your corporate services and ask if they mind if you contact them after you have delivered the wedding video to further discuss potential opportunities with their business. Don't think for a second that they will be offended by talking business at their son or daughter's wedding.

Trust me, they will be dying for a conversation that doesn't involve decisions related to the wedding. Plus, if they are affluent, odds are good that many of their clients or executive co-workers are at the wedding anyway and you know that they have already been talking shop because that's what like minded people do.....even at their own son or daughter's wedding!

CAUTION: I don't suggest this tactic if the target in this case is the groom. As you know, his mind is scrambled and he won't remember any conversation he has at the wedding. Call him after you deliver the wedding video and set up the meeting to discuss your corporate services then.

2. When the wedding season is over, look for opportunities to cover important civic events in the community that are sponsored by major businesses.

You simply call the organization and offer to produce a short highlight video of the event or gavel-to-gavel coverage (whatever makes sense for the event) in exchange for a high-level sponsorship package. This will put your logo and exposure on the same level as other major businesses. I've done this at about 50 events which has resulted in my video production business being exposed to thousands of corporate prospects.

Not every person in the room or who will watch the video are legitimate prospects for you, but the mass exposure will dramatically increase your corporate video production opportunities and it won't cost you anything other than your time and the cost of distribution (blank media, hosting, etc). I set up a website that has since been taken down that I used to post the community videos we produced. You can always use a free service like YouTube, Facebook or Vimeo if you don't want to pay anything to host the videos.

This was a great way to keep our brand top of mind. Be careful though, it will be tempting to think you can make more money by monetizing this event coverage service you are providing. Although you can make a little money charging for this service, keep your eye on the prize.

You want to use this free community service to open the door for larger, high paying projects.

3. Promote yourself as a freelance camera operator or production assistant to local/regional corporate video production companies.

This will help you make extra money in the off-season and will also help you learn the dynamics of corporate video production. Be willing to do anything no matter what the pay is to get your foot in the door. Then, as you build your reputation, you'll be able to steadily increase your rates over time.

Do your best to present yourself as an ally and not as a person trying to compete with them. You don't want other producers or videographers to think that you will contact their clients once you've left the set of their project.

And, no matter how tempting it will be for you to do so. DON'T! It's unethical and will damage your reputation. It's not worth it.

There's plenty of business for you to get without sharking someone else's waters. What you'll find by doing great work and by being an ethical freelance videographer, they'll start throwing scraps your way....the projects that aren't worth their time but they still want to handle in order to maintain a positive client relationship.

You'll get the call to produce it under their umbrella. This not only is an outstanding source of revenue, it's a great way to slowly and profitably break your way into the corporate video production business.

When run properly and when focused on the right target market, wedding videography can be profitable. However, my experience has shown that much more money can be made with less effort in corporate video production.

I hope you'll consider making the transition in your own video business or at least that you'll find ways to expand your service offering to represent business video services. Your success rides on it!

Kris Simmons is a successful video business entrepreneur and coach whose purpose is to help videographers around the world learn how to grow, manage and sustain highly profitable video production companies. To date, thousands of videographers internationally have taken advantage of the business-building resources found at http://www.mindyourvideobusiness.com.

Wedding Photography Contract - What A Wedding Photography Contract Should Include

So you are finally there, ready to sign the dotted line, tying that bond between wedding photographer and couple, about to be married. Do you know what your wedding photography contract should include? Have you crossed all of your t's, dotted your i's, and made sure that you are getting exactly what you are paying for? Here are things to remember when reviewing your wedding photography contract.

Outline the Day's Details

Make sure that your wedding photography contract is very specific about the details of your wedding day. It should include the exact length of time that the photographer will be there, if the photographer is coming alone, has a second photographer coming with, or is bringing an assistant. Making sure that the hourly commitment is crystal clear in the contract will make sure you have your wedding photographer there to cover ALL of your memories, and not one minute less.

Right Place, Right Time

If you know where you are getting married at the time of booking with your wedding photographer, make sure to include the specific details of when and where inside the contract. This way, the wedding photographer is clear about what venue the ceremony is taking place at, where the location of the reception is, and any in-between pit stops there might be during your day. Are you getting married outside, in a church, at the courthouse, or in mom and dad's back yard? Make sure the wedding photography contract has the details, including addresses, telephone numbers, and a possible contact name and number for someone coordinating at the venue.

What Your Wedding Photography Package Includes

If any place at all, this is the place within the wedding photography contract where there should be NO questions or confusion! Be sure that the contract states exactly what is included in your agreement. This includes the length of time the wedding photographer is committed to, the number of people the photographer is bringing, how many final wedding photos you are expected to receive, the length of time it will take for you to receive your wedding pictures, and your rights as the bride and groom to republish and distribute your wedding pictures. Will there be a photographer logo on every picture? If you do not wish to have one, make sure this agreement is in the contract.

When To Pull Out Your Pocketbook

Most wedding photographers have a specific timeline for when they expect payment for their services. Some require a 50% deposit and the rest upon the date of the event. Some wedding photographers want the full payment up front. Others may set up a payment plan with you. Be sure you are aware of specific payment due dates in your wedding photography contract. Read the fine print. Some wedding photographers may book someone else for your wedding date if you do not pay on time.

In addition, because a wedding photographer is committing an entire day to shooting your wedding and your events, the photographer and his or her assistants will need to be fed! Most wedding photography contracts include an agreement of what a photographer is fed at your wedding. In most cases, there is time allotted for the photographer and assistants to eat during the wedding reception. They need to keep their energy up to shoot the most quality wedding pictures possible!

Must-Have Wedding Photos

If there are specific shots you want during your wedding day, throw them into the contract so that there is no confusion or misstep. Many photographers will work with you before your day to add the photos you want to the master shot list. However, it is always a good idea to cover your tracks and put these into the wedding photography contract as well, making sure you get your favorite photos.

Cover Your Bases

Know what will happen in case your wedding photographer has an emergency or becomes ill the time of your wedding. Will he or she hire someone else to shoot? Will he or she come shoot your wedding anyway? Who will be there to capture your memories? The wedding photography contract should have a clause in it stating the alternatives in case an emergency should arise.

Think It Over

Spend time carefully reading the wedding photography contract, discussing it with your fiancé, and making sure that you understand and accept each and every bit of what is on that paper. This will give you the reassurance you deserve when booking your wedding photographer, knowing that this person will be there to catch every tear, every laugh, every hug, and every kiss of your wedding day.

Rachel Searfoss is a wedding photography, online marketing, and search engine marketing (SEO) expert. She can help with building photography business, inexpensive websites, and website traffic through link building, SEO, and PPC Advertising. Searfoss also works with Nashville Wedding Photographer Shane Messer. To contact Searfoss, visit: Nashville Web Site Design.

Should You Get the Apple iPad?

Apple launched the iPad Tablet Computer with great fanfare at the end of January. But should you get one?

First of all let's look at the features of the new iPad tablet. It allows you to browse the internet using Apple's Safari browser. It allows you to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations using Apple's iWork 2010 Office Software (which is currently used on Macs). It has an eReader, allowing you to read books on the iPad, and Apple have launched the iBooks store which allows you to buy eBooks directly from Apple for your iPad. It allows you to watch videos, and play games. And you should be able to read newspapers on it as well - the New York Times has already developed an app to allow their newspaper to be downloaded to the iPad.

Essentially Apple have made a single all-purpose one stop tablet computer in a handy size that is portable. Whether you should buy one depends on what your own needs are.

Book readers were disappointed to learn that the iPad did not use the iInk technology that is incorporated in the Amazon Kindle and Sony Digital reader. (iInk technology is kind to the eyes and allows you to read for hours without strain). However, Apple pointed out that their device was backlit and allowed you to read in bed. If you are a book-lover who only wants an eBook reader you might want to try the Sony Digital reader or Amazon's 6" Kindle, both of which are cheaper than the iPad (because both only read books and don't have the other functions of the iPad).

If you are a business person who spends a lot of time travelling, an iPad might be ideal for you. It will allow you to create documents, contact your office via the internet and read newspapers such as the Financial Times, all on the go, on a single tablet. And the size of the iPad (9.7" screen and weighing 1.5 pounds) makes it less cumbersome to carry than a portable laptop. The iPad doesn't have a USB port - but Apple sell dongles that attach to the iPad which do have ports and which you can use to transfer documents to and from your PC.

Gamers might also be interested in the iPad - but note that Sony are also releasing the Sony Dash, which allows you to play games, listen to music, watch video and browse the internet, and is cheaper than the iPad (because it doesn't have the eReader functions or the office functions). However, if you are a gamer who also wants to be able to write essays, do work and surf the net, then the iPad is a better solution.

If you simply like gadgets and want a handy sized tablet computer to use while in the garden or while lying on the sofa, then the iPad is a must-have. It's simply the most advanced tablet device on the market right now. Apple have released a software developers kit so that software houses can develop apps for the iPad. As with the iPhone, it is the apps that will make or break the device, and it is likely that the quality and breath of the apps mean that you should go ahead and buy the Apple iPad tablet.

Visit Buy Apple iPad to get more details of the Apple iPad, as well as information about the Sony Digital reader, Sony Dash, the Amazon Kindle and HP Slate so you can compare and contrast and make an informed decision as to which product is best for you.