Look at any list of the top 10 fears of people and the fear of public speaking will undoubtedly be at the top of any list.  In a world where content marketing is becoming ever more important, the need to not only write the content, but present it, is now even more critical for people looking to develop new business leads and position themselves and their companies as leaders in their respective industry.  In this week’s Marketing Blog, I’ll share some additional tips to giving a presentation. (Cl...

Look at any list of the top 10 fears of people and the fear of public speaking will undoubtedly be at the top of any list.  In a world where content marketing is becoming ever more important, the need to not only write the content, but present it, is now even more critical for people looking to develop new business leads and position themselves and their companies as leaders in their respective industry.  In this week’s Marketing Blog, I thought I would hit on some of the foundational tips to...

This month's issue of IT Informer includes the following articles:

• Happy Holidays from Skoda Minotti!
• The Tablet Revolution and Why it Matters to Your Small Business's Technology Plan
• Five Common Ways Your Employees Put Your Company's Data at Risk Using Mobile Devices
• We've Expanded Our Helpdesk to Support Your Technology Needs
• Skoda Minotti's Brian Rosenfelt Listed as COSE Mindspring Expert
• 3CX Phone System Case Study

Happy Holidays from Skoda Minotti! 

We would like to wish you and your family...

Click here if you missed part one of “Developing a Marketing Budget for 2012.”

How much should I budget for marketing?

This is the big question and one we get a lot. Typically marketing budgets are measured as a percentage of sales. The percentage will vary by industry. Both the Counselors to America's Small Business (SCORE) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) define the variable for a proper marketing budget to be between 2% and 10% of sales, noting that for B2C, retail and...

Have you put together your 2012 marketing plan? There is still time.

The Coming Year

Moody’s, Goldman Sachs, the Economist and other sources point to 2012 as another year of stagnate growth for the U.S. economy. Most of these sources point to less than 2% growth in GDP. As you know, anything can happen but it appears to be another tough year to grow your business. You need to plan for more of the same and hope for better. 

Part of this planning should include developing your marketing programs and...

On April Fool's Day, 1976, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs released the Apple I computer and Apple Inc. was born.  They had one product they manufactured and sold and they were successful enough that they eventually came out with the Apple II a year later.   The rest of Apple’s history as a tech visionary developing groundbreaking products is well documented, but not the intended focus of my blog. What I do want to focus on is the ease at which they were able to leverage their brand in an effort to...

If business owners were asked on a marketing exam: Who is the target audience of your branding efforts? My guess is 9 out of 10 would answer “Our customers.”

That answer would garner only one-third partial credit. 

While it’s a given that brands are developed with the customer in mind, you would be selling yourself short (by about 66%) if your branding efforts stopped there. Your brand does more than just attract customers. It also attracts valuable employees and business partners.

Think about...

Remember the old fable about the ant and the grasshopper? The ant labors all summer long storing up food for the long winter ahead, while the grasshopper spends the warm summer months singing, dancing and playing. Then when the winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger while the ant is taking inventory of all the food it had stored. The story concludes with the grasshopper, ill prepared for the hardships of winter, struggling for survival and ultimately starving to death.  

Sur...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Skoda Minotti, a CPA, business and financial advisory firm, has been named a recipient of The Plain Dealer’s second annual Top Workplaces 2011 award, for the second year in a row. This honor was given to 132 companies, nonprofits and agencies in northeast Ohio companies this year, based strictly on survey results of their employees.

Survey results were gathered using an independent workplace consultant. Employees were asked to indicate, on a seven-point scale, how much they...

In my 20+ years of assisting companies with marketing, I am continually surprised by the general misconception of what defines marketing.  I also don’t think managers truly see what marketing can do for their business. 

In the purest sense, marketing is the mix of activities required to get a product or service from conception to the end user.  These activities are typically described by marketers as the four P’s of marketing:  Product, Price, Physical distribution and Promotion.  Unfortunately...

July 5, 2011 – CLEVELAND – Skoda Minotti has acquired Cleveland marketing firm Hilty Moore & Associates, Inc. (HM&A) along with the company’s visual marketing division, BrandEyeD. The acquisition enhances the expertise and depth of marketing resources available to serve Skoda Minotti Marketing Services’ growing client base.

In addition to bringing enhanced marketing research expertise, the acquisition of HM&A will complement Skoda Minotti Marketing Services’ ability to provide...

CLEVELAND – Skoda Minotti Marketing Services Group was recently recognized by the Association for Accounting Marketing for outstanding achievements in the areas of accounting marketing and communications. At the Association for Accounting Marketing – Marketing Achievement Awards (AAM-MAA) ceremony in Chicago, Ill., the Cleveland-based marketing services group was honored for its 2010 holiday greeting e-card entry.

Skoda Minotti’s holiday greeting e-card allowed the firm to significantly decrease...

This issue of the Real Estate Monitor includes the following articles:

• Understanding the Energy Efficient Tax Deduction
• New Requirements for Asbestos Surveys from the Ohio Department of Health
• Housing: Affordability of Home Ownership
• Deductions: Passive Losses
• Mortgage Loans: New Rules
• Housing: Residential Ground Leases
• Securities: No Liability Under Securities Exchange Act
• Cleveland Market Overview

Understanding the Energy Efficient Tax Deduction

Skoda Minotti, along with CLS Facility Services, invites...

This issue of the Real Estate Monitor includes the following articles:

• Survey of Northeast Ohio's Construction & Real Estate Industries
• Communicating the Value of Development Projects Through Economic Impact Analysis
• The Outlook for Construction and Real Estate
• Commercial Real Estate: How Will Refinancing Take Place?
• Proposed New Accounting Rules
• Due Diligence: Purchase With Care
• Leases Checking: Property Tax Invoices 
• Upholding a Letter of Intent
• Cleveland Market Overview

Survey of Northeast Ohio's...

Accounting and Tax Ramifications of Issuing Stock Options

 Click here to view Part 1 of our series and learn more about the stock option landscape.

To give you more perspective, first let us review the accounting treatment for the issuance of stock options (rest easy - this will not be too painful). When stock options are issued, an expense must be recorded based on the value of the option. A stock option’s value is derived from a variety of factors, two of which are the value of the stock as of...

2010 Real Estate and Construction Survey

Skoda Minotti is conducting our 3rd annual survey of the Northeast Ohio real estate and construction industries. Every participant who completes the questionnaire will receive a free copy of the survey results and analysis and have a chance to win a $50 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods.

The goal of the survey is to provide professionals in the real estate and construction industries in Northeast Ohio with the invaluable insight into their industries.

As...

Sports Sponsorships – Inside the Lines

With the economic downturn hitting the sports world just as hard as any other business – just ask the hometown Cleveland Indians – teams are looking to squeeze out any extra bit of possible revenue.

Walk into any professional sports stadium today and you’ll immediately be bombarded by advertising in a variety of different formats. In fact, it might seem that you see ads everywhere except for on the field. That is, unless you attend certain NFL training...