Trees are wonderful.  They provide us with oxygen, shade, beautiful scenery, fruit, and a rainbow of colors in the fall – just to mention a few things!  Sometimes they can cause problems, too, especially when weather causes them to become unstable or destructive.  It’s important to keep your trees healthy and stable for their well-being and yours – and that’s where our Merchant of the Month can help!

Economy Tree Service, Inc., provides complete tree service to keep the trees on your property in tip-top shape. They provide tree trimming, fertilizing, tree removal, lot clearing, stump grinding, shrub trimming and shrub removal services. They also specialize in hazardous tree removal – trees located next to houses or buildings or close to wires. Economy Tree Service also handles shrub trimming and removal, deadwood removal, storm damage, cleanup services, and tree spraying for disease and insects.

A native of Kent Island, William Roy has owned and operated Economy Tree Service since 1991. After working for another tree company, he decided to “branch” out on his own, buying a chipper and a stump grinder and growing his business from the roots up.  His operation now features two crews (including two arborists) and nine trucks, including chip trucks, bucket trucks, pickups, and log trucks. Economy Tree is headquartered in Queenstown on the Eastern Shore and serves customers in Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Caroline Counties, as well as the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County area.  They also provide services for the town of Easton as well as Queen Anne and Talbot Counties, and state roads.

Economy Tree also sells firewood at reasonable prices and will deliver to your location for a nominal fee (or you can pick it up).  If you are having a tree trimmed or serviced, you can choose to have the trimmings chipped into mulch or, if big enough, cut into fireplace-sized logs for your use – or you can have it all hauled away!  William recommends oak, locust, and cherry for fireplace or woodstove use as they are all clean-burning hardwoods.  Poplar burns fast and pine leaves a residue in the chimney.

To keep your trees healthy, safe, and looking good, William recommends that you keep them trimmed and have the deadwood thinned so that the wind doesn’t catch them and cause damage.  He also recommends fertilizing for trees that have suffered damage from storms or insects.

Economy Tree Service provides 24-hour emergency service as well as free estimates.  Regular business hours are 7 AM to 5 PM Monday through Saturday.  They are located at 100 Arrington Road in Queenstown.  Visit the website at www.economytreeserviceinc.com or give them a call at 410-827-5198.

Local merchants who are looking for a powerful way to attract more customers must consider using video content on the Web.  No one can deny the fact that video content is more compelling that written articles and blog content alone, and advances in technology have made it easy and affordable for virtually anyone who considers themselves to be serious business owners.  For less than a couple hundred dollars you can produce high quality video for posting to your website or a Youtube account.

You would be surprised how many people will watch simple videos of you simply doing what you do for a living, or talking to your audience about a topic that interests them.  Restaurant chefs, real estate agents, attorneys, dry cleaners, tailors, virtually anyone in business can tell the story of what they do and why using short, simple videos.

As you create your videos, keep in mind that Youtube gets more views than the top 10 TV networks, so there are lots of folks looking for content that is educational, entertaining, and timely.  If you can be the source of that content, you can certainly attract viewers to become your customer.

If you have questions about using video content to promote your business please contact me.  I have a local connection who can help you map out a strategy and help you get it done.

Winter is just around the corner, and with it, ski season.  Cash Flow Plus is proud to provide merchant services for the Annual Ski Swap, a fundraiser to benefit the Ski Liberty Ski Patrol.  The swap takes place this Sunday, October 30, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Ski Center, located at 4300 Fordham Road NW, Washington, D.C. 20016.  The rain date is Saturday, November 5.  Ski and snowboard enthusiasts can buy or sell used ski and snowboard equipment and clothing at this event, which is the D.C. area’s largest ski swap.

The Ski Liberty Ski Patrol is part of the National Ski Patrol System, Inc., a non-profit organization formed in 1938 and dedicated to promoting skiing and snowboarding safety throughout the country.  The NSP has a Ski Patrol presence at 98% of the ski resorts in the United States.  There are about 27,000 NSP members nationwide, with 120 members at Ski Liberty.  The Ski Liberty Ski Patrol, founded in 1974, is a member of the NSP.  Some of its members have been patrolling the same mountain since the 1970s.

Members of the Ski Patrol are volunteers who donate their time and expertise to provide aid and assistance, at no cost, to injured skiers and boarders throughout the United States.  The NSP’s premier outdoor emergency care course is used to educate ski patrollers throughout the world.

The annual Ski Swap at the Ski Center is the Ski Patrol’s only source of income – the proceeds from the swap support their tireless first-aid efforts, purchase training equipment, and cover expenses in conducting training courses for Patrol members.

If you are interested in attending the swap, here are some guidelines:

• If you are selling items, registration begins at 9:00 AM.
• Return by 3:30 PM to pick up unsold items. Items not picked up by 3:30 PM will be considered donated to the Ski Patrol.
• Pay by credit card, cash or check. You will receive a check in the mail for any sold items less a 20% commission from the Ski Patrol. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks to receive your check.
• For easy ample parking on Swap Day, turn on 50th Street from Massachusetts Avenue and use the large parking lot behind the office buildings.
• Boots and bindings over 10 years old cannot be sold.

Whether you are a skier or a boarder, there is something for everyone!  Come out and support the Ski Patrol!  They’re there when you need them!

Believe it or not, the holidays are just around the corner, and now is the time to plan if you are a merchant! Gift cards have become the number one gift for the holidays, outselling gift certificates by a 10 to 1 margin. Gift cards also offer many benefits to the merchants that offer them:

• The initial sale of a gift card is an immediate source of revenue for a merchant.
• The card acts as an advertisement for the merchant.
• Gift cards encourage repeat visits by customers who don’t use the entire value of the card on the first visit.
• Some cards can be recharged after the initial value is depleted, bringing customers back into the business to make additional purchases.
• There is a high potential for increased sales above the value of the gift card amount from customers who purchase items higher than the value of the card.
• Merchants offering gift cards typically realize an increase in overall sales and cash flow, sometimes as much as 30 percent or more.
• Gift cards are easy to issue, and transactions using gift cards are fast and efficient because no change is issued when a gift card is redeemed.
• Statistically speaking, merchants can realize an average of 15 to 20 percent pure profit on cards that are issued but never redeemed.

To realize the advantages of gift cards and grab your portion of the market, please contact us for more information – so that we can get you set up in time for the holidays!

As we move deeper into autumn and toward colder weather, we instinctively start thinking of gatherings with family and friends, warm and comforting meals shared and enjoyed, all topped off with a sweet finale.  As you plan your holiday parties – or any celebration, for that matter – be sure to contact our Merchant of the Month, Du Paul’s Catering!

Du Paul’s Catering is a family-owned and operated business located in the Safeway shopping center in Prince Frederick, Maryland.  Paula Van Tassel opened the business in 1994 and has been catering large and small events in the Calvert/St. Mary’s/Charles county area ever since.Du Paul’s aims to provide freshly prepared and tasty meals followed by home-made desserts at a reasonable price. Paula’s weekday business is mostly corporate, feeding local offices and businesses, while focusing on private parties and weddings on the weekends.

Born in Seaford in Southern England, Paula attended South Bank University in London and worked in the administrative department of the hotel industry.  She developed an interest in food service after helping out with banquets and receptions, and her interest was enriched by traveling to other countries and sampling their cuisines.  Paula met her husband, Dutch, while overseas and relocated to Maryland in 1983, establishing her home in Prince Frederick.

Du Paul’s has achieved a loyal following of regular customers, and Paula thoroughly enjoys serving them. Most of her new customers are referred by the regulars, which is the most valuable advertising that any business could wish for!

Du Paul’s specializes in full-service buffet-style catering, although some of their customers prefer to pick up a few favorite items for their parties.  Popular items include their famous strawberry shortcake, shepherd’s pie and lasagna (great comfort foods!).  Their homemade pies are also legendary in the tri-county area, including chocolate fudge, apple, peach, pumpkin, and pecan.  Other desserts include fresh-baked cookies, brownies, and cheesecake. If casseroles don’t fit the bill, you can opt for other favorites like oven-fried chicken, pork barbecue, traditional homemade potato salad and cole slaw, Greek pasta, scalloped potatoes, and broccoli salad.  Paula strives to use local produce wherever possible in all of her preparations.

While Paula really enjoys cooking and pleasing people with her creations, she relishes the flexibility that owning her own business offers to her, especially when the time comes to visit family in England.  She enjoys traveling overseas to reconnect when she can.  Paula also appreciates the efficiency that Cash Flow Plus has introduced to her business – many of her orders are by telephone, and she finds it quick and easy to process them with the services that CFP has to offer.

The next time you are planning a party, wedding, reunion, anniversary, or picnic, be sure to contact Du Paul’s Catering.  They are located at 184 West Dares Beach Road in Prince Frederick and can be reached online at www.dupaulscatering.com.

There’s nothing like having your own car – for some people, it’s almost an extension of themselves. A person’s choice of automobile says a lot about their lifestyle and personality, so when a problem crops up, or it’s time for regular maintenance, it’s a good feeling to know that your car is in the right hands.  Our merchant of the month strives to keep your car running at its peak!

Tech Automotive and Broken Wing Cycles, located in Huntingtown, Maryland, performs all types of maintenance and repair service for cars, trucks, and motorcycles.  With a staff of four ASE (Automotive Service Excellence)-certified mechanics and an exhaust specialist, Tech Auto strives to extend the life of your vehicle for as long as possible.

Tommy Gilmartin, owner of Tech Auto, realized early on that he had a talent for automotive repair when he began working on cars as a teenager.  He worked for many years for several auto dealerships, expanding his experience and honing his craft, prior to venturing out on his own. In 2006, he opened the doors of Tech Auto, offering car and truck repair. An avid motorcyclist, Tommy added motorcycle repair to his line of services, specializing in fixing crashed bikes.  The “Broken Wing Cycles” name actually comes from the fact that Tech Auto works predominantly on Harley Davidson cycles, and the Harley logo often contains eagle’s wings.  Tommy takes in those injured “eagles,” mends those “broken wings,” and sends them back to “fly” again!  Tech Auto also offers hot-rod custom exhaust systems.

Like many business owners, Tommy enjoys being his own boss and running his own business.  He continues to perform repairs on a daily basis but focuses on the challenging cases that appear on his doorstep.  When he’s not mending a Harley or working on a repair, he takes to the road on his Harley Davidson Road Glide motorcycle; he also enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his 5 grandchildren.

Tech Auto provides service for all makes and models and offers hot-rod custom exhaust systems, too.  They have a regular roster of customers but are always willing to welcome new ones.  Give Tommy a call at 410-257-9101 or visit the shop at 155 Prospect Drive, Suite 103, in Huntingtown, MD.  The shop is open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM.

As a business owner, it’s highly likely that you own a cell phone – maybe even a smart phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA for short).  These little mobile devices make it convenient for us to place phone calls, send texts and emails, surf, browse, and post from wherever we are. However, all good things come to an end, and inevitably you will find yourself preparing to upgrade your phone.  What do you plan to do with the old one?

There are plenty of options: recycling, reselling, and donating are the most common choices for most people.  Before you do any of these things, be sure that you know how to dispose of the data on your old device properly so that you are not exposing sensitive business or personal information to the wrong eyes!  Removing personal information includes removing the memory or SIM card and following manufacturer’s instructions to wipe the data from the device.  Be sure to remove your phone book, contact lists, list of calls made and received, voicemails, photos, and all email, both sent and received. Also remove text messages, web search history and folders.  For additional advice on how to properly remove your data, contact your cellular service provider or refer to the owner’s manual for your device.

Once you have removed all of your data from your device, you have several options for its disposal.  If your device still has some usable life in it, you may consider selling it.  If you have more than one device to sell, you might be able to bring a little bit of money back into your business. Organizations exist that will buy your old device from you – but it’s best not to just choose one from a list that you find online. Be sure to thoroughly check out the business that you choose to deal with, working with a local business where you can visit and talk to the owner or manager.

If you choose to recycle your phone, the government has some options for you.  The Environmental Protection Agency’s web site provides information on recycling programs (www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/recycle/ecycling/donate.htm) and the US Postal Service has a free “Mail Back” program that allows you to recycle small electronics (www.usps.com/what-we-are-doing/green/report/2010/ourpeople-cust-exp-2.htm).

Whatever you do, please consider the environmental impact of just throwing your phone into the trash.  Batteries in cell phones and small electronic devices should not be put into landfills because the heavy metals can contaminate the earth.  Check with your local health and sanitation agency for additional suggestions on disposing of these devices.

Source: www.ftc.gov.

Most people on the Internet are looking for a combination of three things:  Communication, information, and entertainment.  It’s pretty simple to position yourself to be the source of information, especially in your area of expertise, if you will take the time to produce content that people can use to get their questions answered.

Taking the time to create quality content is a strong investment in your business, because if you create the content one time, you can have thousands of people who get exposure to it and become a potential client or referral source for you.

People also love to share content and it’s easy for them since it only takes a few button clicks to post a link to your article on their social networking profiles or to send it to their mailing list.  I watched a Youtube video featuring a cute little skit where the author was talking to his dog and the dog was talking back.  It was very entertaining, but the kicker is that the video has gotten over 44 million views in just over 2 months!  Can you believe that?

I’m not saying that your videos and content will duplicate that success, but even if they got a thousand views or a hundred views, that’s one hundred or more people who now know you exist and now know how you can help them.  If all you did was produce a quality article or video once a week and encouraged people you know to share it with their friends, you’d reach more people than you typically reach through a coupon circular or newspaper ad.

Consider making a small investment of time and effort to share a few tidbits of wisdom consistently.  It’s free to post on social media networks, so your only real investment is a little time on your end.

Are you looking for a new look?  Maybe a new haircut, a bit of color or curl?  Perhaps a relaxing manicure or facial is what you need…or better yet, a pick-me-up for your feet that seem to be spending a lot of time out of shoes this summer!  Whether you’re looking for a change to your style, a few hours of pampering, or simply a trim, Julians Hair Designers can help!

Located in the Lions Creek Center on Route 260 in Dunkirk, Maryland, Julians Hair Designers offers a myriad of hair, skin, and nail care designed to make you look and feel your best from head to toes!  Teresa Zanelotti-Whitten and Joanie Zanelotti-Cook, sisters and partners in Julians, and their staff of professionally-trained stylists provide the best in haircuts and styles for women, men, and children, as well as texturizing, coloring, waving, and reconditioning.  Skin care includes customized and specialized facial treatments, waxing, and makeup application, and for beautiful hands Julian’s offers a full range of manicure services and nail enhancements. They can also help keep your feet fresh and pretty during the summer with full pedicure services.

Julians is a family-owned business through and through and has been serving customers for 31 years.  Teresa and Joanie’s parents, Joseph and Doris Zanelotti, helped the sisters open their first two salons in Camp Springs in Prince George’s County in 1981. When they relocated to Calvert County, their parents retired and Teresa and Joanie took over the administration of the business in addition to providing hair, nail, and skin care services.  They have been serving their loyal clients (and new ones, too) ever since.

Both Teresa and Joanie were born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Takoma Park before moving to the Upper Marlboro area. In addition to having four children each and grandchildren, too (Teresa has 6, Joanie has 1), the sisters enjoy outdoor activities, especially fishing.  They take pride in giving back to their community as much as possible – the salon has raised funds for the Avon Breast Cancer Awareness program for several years in a row now and actively participates in the Relay for Life.  They also support the Wigs for Kids program, which uses donated hair to make wigs for children who are undergoing chemotherapy treatments or have other hair-loss conditions. Teresa also served on the State Board of Cosmetology for nine years.

Teresa and Joanie invite you to visit Julians Hair Designers for a new look or a pampering service!  They are located at 2823 W. Chesapeake Beach Road in Dunkirk.  For an appointment, call 301-812-0800.  You can also visit their website for  detailed information and pricing at www.julianshair.com.

Many merchants are satisfied to simply advertise to their clients rather than investing in relationships with them.  It’s easy to take out an ad as long as you have the budget for it, but it takes a little more commitment to invest your time in getting to know your customers.  I’m pretty sure that extra commitment is why more merchants don’t calculate into their marketing budget an amount of time each month that they will invest in relationship building with customers and referral sources.

The problem with relying exclusively on advertising is that if you stop advertising customers stop coming in, since their only motivation is typically whatever deal you are currently promoting.  When people come to you because of a referral, or because of their relationship with them, they return frequently without the need for you to always have a discount offered.

Initially, it takes a little more time to build that relationship, but it’s truly an investment that pays future dividends when the majority of business comes to you from referral sources and repeat customers who enjoy their relationship with you.

As you consider your marketing budget, consider budgeting a certain amount of time each week that you will spend connecting with your customers and with potential referral sources.  Make those connections count by following our advice in previous articles about acting with a “servant’s heart” in your dealings with people, and you will see people respond to the opportunity to get to know you better and enjoy shopping with you as much as knowing you.