The look of your business-and a great design concept-can make a powerful impact on customers and help generate revenue. That’s the word from Susie Mendíve, a graphic designer who has spent years helping brands-from nonprofit organizations to large beauty companies- create their own unique image.

Mendíve believes it is important to create an image that is consistent throughout-from Web site to letterhead to the storefront window. The image should clearly communicate what it is your company does.

Here are her five tips to step up your business style:

• Observe, observe, observe. Consider your favorite clothing designers, boutique hotels you love and your must-have magazines. Each of these can provide clues to how they created their business style through hangtags, labels, menus, drink napkins, font choices, color schemes and Web sites.

• Get organized. Every small business has a similar list of tools, including a logo or specialized version of their company name, letterhead, stationery, business cards and a Web site that shows current and potential customers that it is in business. Take time to think about your customers and what they need from you and your business.

• Go digital and save money. Forrester Research recently found that 42 percent of small businesses are marketing or advertising their business online. A Web site and e-mail address are musts.
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Crane hire companies have a complete range of industrial cranes available for hire.

Even deciding what kind of crane you need is a complex process that will require you to provide planned location, weight of load and distance from the centre of rotation (slew) of the crane that the load will be moved. This is because a crane can move a heavy load a small distance from the centre of slew, or a lighter load a larger distance from the centre of slew. There are tables for each crane type, detailing safe distances and loads that can be moved.

You have two options, Crane Hire or a Contract Lifting Service

Crane Hire

Hiring a crane is a much more complex procedure than you might expect if you are a first time hirer.

As can be expected with any large piece of industrial machinery there are complex Health and Safety procedures to comply with.

When hiring a crane conditions the client must provide an appointed person and supply the hire company operator with a detailed method and safety statements, drawn up by a competent and trained person, prior to the lift. The appointed person must supervise the lifting operation as detailed in BS 7121 (Safe Use of Cranes) and provide qualified personnel such as slingers, signallers and crane operators.

Hiring cranes and plant is inevitably accompanied by risk. The cost of a modern mobile crane ranging from £100,000 to more than £2million, the financial consequences in the event of an accident could be immense.

As a customer hiring a crane or other item of plant, you will have to satisfy the crane hire company that you have adequate insurance cover for the following risks:
1. Loss of, or damage to, the crane whilst on hire.
2. Continuing hire charges whilst the crane is under repairs
3. Injury to the operator.
4. Third party cover (injury to other parties, including damage to their property.)
Crane hire companies can arrange cover for loss of, or damage to, the crane whilst on hire and continuing hire charges whilst the crane is under repair. Insurance cover for lifted materials is also available.
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It is amazing to me that not many retail investors understand the concept of generating cash flow from their stock positions. When I tell people that I utilize covered calls to generate extra income, hedge my stock positions, and set strict sell disciplines they look at me like I am crazy. I was introduced to the concept from a stockbroker, Scott Masse, who runs Masse Wealth Management, in Smithfield, RI. Scott is also the owner of a few bars and one night over a few diet cocktails, ie. barcadi and diet cola, he explained the concept to me. The idea of writing covered calls is the only option strategy that you can employ at most of the major brokerage firms for your IRA investments. The reason is that writing covered calls is a very conservative strategy relative to other option strategies.

The strategy is very similiar to selling an option on a piece of real estate. For example, I’ll give you $10,000 now, if you allow me to buy your property 6 months from now at a set price. If I choose not to exercise my option, you keep the money and we go our seperate ways.

With a stock, if I buy 1,000 shares of ABC OIL at $10 and the stock goes to $11 in the following month. I can sell someone the “right” or option to buy the stock from me six months from now at $12.50. For that right or option, the option buyer has to give me some consideration, similiar to the above real estate example, let’s assume it is .50 per share or $500.

The $500 is immediately deposited into my brokerage account, but an option position also shows up on my statement. I can not sell the stock prior to 6 months unless I buy back the option in the open market. The option price can fluctuate from day to day, therefore, I typically hold my stocks until expiration.
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As the real estate market in the US takes a nose dive, alternative investments like Costa Rica real estate could keep you afloat and in the sun! In times like this it’s good to have an alternative to futures, options, and hedge funds. The real estate market in Costa Rica is said to be one of the most stable in the world. It has been quietly booming for a few years and is expected to continue on its path.

What makes Costa Rica real estate such a promising investment?

About 15 years ago, you could buy a piece of land 50 meters from a beach of powder white sand and aqua blue water for $10,000 and it would be worth $500,000 today. There are still investment opportunities like this available in undeveloped costal areas, and up and coming trendy tourist destination. Although there are fewer than in the past, steals like this can still be found.

But more importantly, foreigners continue to move to Costa Rica, bringing their savings with them. Many are retiring or buying a second home, some are retiring young and some are coming to do business. There are several reasons for the influx. Property is cheaper than in the US, as is the cost of living, and a familiar standard of living can be maintained with the added benefit of beautiful beaches.

Furthermore, in 2010 the baby-boom generation will start to turn 65 and retire. Baby-boomers will retreat from their failing retirement plans and insufficient Medicare system and move to independent retirement in the sun. Costa Rica will become the new Florida, and you can already see the retirement developments going up and banking services for transferring Medicare checks.
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