Small business creates something like 65% or more of the jobs in an upturn. Small business  creates their financing from credit cards and equity lines in their homes.  Current new proposals and laws restrict the ability of individuals to receive new credit cards, reduce rates on cards and limit by law lenders ability to determine the creditworthyness of  home buyers.

These proposals sponsored primarily by Democrats,  attempt to shield their constituents from getting into debt beyond their ability to pay.   This is another step away from self determination, and deciding yourself how much you should borrow.   The problem is, by reducing the availability of credit, to those that cannot prove “sufficient” income and assets, takes away a primary tool that small startup business people have used for years to start or grow a new business.  If you had “sufficient income and assets” you might not be trying to start a new business.  Often the person on the street sees opportunities that a banker cannot see.  And the very same government through the FDIC is telling the bank examiners to let the banks know that they should be increasing their reserves and cutting back on lending, reducing their exposure to existing clients, much less lending to new ones.  The only money being lent out is through SBA Small Business Administration guaranteed loans.. hmmm..  Federal government supervision again.  So its unlikely your local or regional bank is going to give you a loan.

A very interesting development as of the last few days.  Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton within just a couple of days of each other both took some aim at President Obama’s current policy of punishing the big banks.  Hillary said that foreign countries do not have as much respect for us, or do not have the inclination to follow our suggestions if our economy is weak.  This is quite a bold statement, coming from a Secretary of State.  And quite different than typical remarks from a person in that positions.  One wonders if she is distancing herself from the President, and might take a stab at running against him in the Democratic Primary coming up in a couple of years.  And husband Bill said, that in his opinion Goldman Sacks did not violate the law, and that we should be working on growing jobs and business with calm forward looking policy rather than backward looking punishment.  Interesting that those two statements came out very close together.  These two do not say things they have not thought out thoroughly.

So, the gamble is, will blaming push down the markets, and regulations push down credit availability, sparking a second down dip in the economy.  He might be popular, but how long will people buy the idea that it is the Banks fault.  After all even if it was, and we prevent it from happening again, will that increase jobs and hiring?  No.  I do not see how creating regulations that hinder banking and trading will create new jobs in the private sector.

It’s easy to blame the last thing that occurred before and event for the event.

In my opinion I think 20 years or more of having a poor economic and energy policy,  creating most favored nation trading status for other countries without product standards for imports is what moved us into this long term downturn in middle wage and manufacturing jobs.

That is the issue that needs to be discussed, rather than real estate and banking.

We cannot just start creating import duties, because now after the fact that will create a trade war and limit our ability to sell treasury bills to finance our expansion of benefits to those that are not paying for them.

This is just what is happening now in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

The reason the Euro currency has tanked is because there is a limit to how much you can borrow to pay for things.  At some point people lending you the money say,  I need more interest to pay for the risk of lending to you, or at a further point, I am not going to lend to you at any rate of interest.

China is spending their cash that they own on infrastructure and growth and other job creating areas.  The US is spending money it needs to borrow to primarily continue benefits to constituents of those that are voted in.

At some point there is a tipping point.  Greece cannot borrow more, and risks default on what they have borrowed so far, because the money was given out to people, not used for improving the jobs and the economy.   The people like that and vote in more representatives that will borrow more money, and this goes on until the people they are borrowing from say,  you are too high a risk.

Sounds like California, Illinois and a few other States.

It cannot happen here.. hmmm..  It’s different here.  We can just raise taxes on the rich.. except there are not enough of them even if taxed 100% to pay for the budget deficit we are not adding to.  That will not work.

And, people and Corporations, especially people with money and Corporations with money have choices.  They have a choice to take their assets or business and move them to another country.  If we act as if we as a government can just keep taxing and increasing rules and regulations forever without them reacting we are very wrong.  There is a tipping point.  What happens first?  Jobs are lost, money and capital are lost, unemployment rises,  companies move to other countries.  Is that what is happening here?

I read a Chinese paper today online, the growth their is stunning compared to our contraction.  We are getting used to high unemployment and a failed economy like we have no choice but to live through it.  When you read about  their employment rates and growth it jogs your mind.

China’s economy expanded 11.9 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2010.  The growth rate is 5.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year. They are clearly kicking our butt.  Double-digit GDP growth indicates that the country’s fixed-asset investment and domestic consumption have together generated even more growth momentum in the first quarter of this year than they did in previous quarters, when the country was going all out to fight the worst global recession in decades.

The key words there are that they were successful because they invested in fixes- asset investments.   I can remember the talk in the US about a stimulus package that was supposed to invest in fixed-assets, but in the Congress it got shifted over to a majority of the spending being on payments to constituents.. primarily States to spend on employees, and public benefits like foodstamps and unemployment benefits.. hmm.. yes that creates a good economy.  See the difference? Its huge.  The Chinese have professionals running their economy and we have politicians that pander to the people who elected them who want more for less.   Or more for nothing, and have “somebody else” pay for it or its ok to borrow the money.   I have not seen any articles about increasing payments to public workers or the like in Chinese newspapers as their response to a slide in their economy.  So which policy worked.  Theirs did.  Are we changing ours yet? No.  Whats the path then, continued more of the same, until we change our path to one that works.

We actually have an example that we can see of what worked and what did not.  But I do not hear about that in the news.. we are discussing punishing the Banks and the fatcats instead of figuring out how to grow the economy.

Ok.  What can we do.

1).  Elect people who understand economics and business and employment.  And no that is not a blanket approval for Republicans.

Peter Schiff is an interesting Senate candidate.  Look him up for some unique reading.

2).  We can implement a standard for products that are sold in the United States.  All countries that import and all companies that manufacture here in the US will have to meet the product standard.  How is this different from what we have now?  California just passed a law implementing energy usage requirements for new televisions sold in California.  Where ever they are made they have to meet that standard.  Now lets think about carbon caps and things like that.  The US, no Obama and his followers want to implement carbon output caps for only United States manufacturers.  This will allow “developing” countries to not comply, which increases impairments on US companies, and not imports.  This is a continuation of the failed 20 year trade and economic policy (or lack of one) which is causing our median wages to tank.  If we created a product standard, instead of a manufacturing standard just for U.S. manufacturers, we could reach the environmental goal without losing too many jobs.  All impairments cost jobs, but the job loss can be discussed and debated and decided if it is worth the benefit.  We should not hide our head in the sand and say that new impairments will increase jobs because it never has.

3).  Do not borrow to pay for social programs and payments to people, including benefits for public workers.   If we cannot pay for it with cash, which includes taxes, do not increase wages and benefits.  We most likely need to decrease obligations and payments for public workers and entitlement benefits until we have a balanced budget again.  Increasing taxes, is not going to work, because it will cause a further loss of jobs, or delay the creation of jobs, as people move their money, their companies and families to places that have less impairments.

Public Unions have resisted pay cuts and prefer to have their workers fired or laid off  and have the public suffer the resulting cut in public services.  At some time we move past the tipping point.  The Unions themselves should see that it is in the best interest of their workers to allow the economy to stabilize and grow again.  If we cut public workers pay 5 to 8 percent, and required copays for medications, and medical care, and cut retirement benefits, to where our current taxes would pay for the expense we will have a good start.

This would be better than wholesale layoffs and firings.  Most of the public sector has taken a bigger pay cut than that in the last few years.  Many people have taken a 100% pay cut,  so it’s hard to listen and agree with those that are paid for with tax and borrowed dollars that they should not have to receive a cut in pay.

In Oregon, the PERS system ( the public employees retirement system) still allows by past contract of our legislature and Governor, that they get a minimum guaranteed payout of 8% per year on their pension and retirement plan, no matter what the market does.  So if the market goes up 25% in a year they get a 25% gain, if the market goes down 25% in a year the still get an positive 8% gain.  And the taxpayers have to fund this !!  We need  to remove public employee Union negotiations from the Legislature and turn it over to an appointed board.  The PERS board that supervised the plan was also appointed by a Democrat Governor, was made up of a majority of about 80% of union members.  Some oversight.  This is why taxes are going up and the jobs and economy are going down.  It is not the banks.  But I can see how it is in Obama’s interest to shift the discussion to the fatcats and the banks.

We can and should be looking at economic policies that will grow the economy so that all workers, public and union and private can grow their salaries and incomes and benefits again.  If we tax and borrow to pay for public workers it will kill the private sector.

Look at the things that Greece is going to do in order to be able to borrow more money.  Cut pay and benefits of government funded payouts.  Increase taxes.

It is better to cut pay and benefits now to avoid having to raise taxes and cut benefits and pay.

Summary.

1). Cut benefits and pay for public workers, and entitlements until our budget is balanced.  Grow these pay levels back through improvement in the economy not by borrowing.

2). Pass Product standards for all products sold in the United States to bring a level playing field back for US producers.

3). Elect knowledgeable representatives; Democrats and Republicans that know about economic growth, business and capitalism.  It is the best path to economic prosperity for all.

4).  Teach our kids about capitalism and free markets and economics.

The Chinese have it figured out, and while we argue, they have  a planned capitalist economy humming along.  They do not have lawsuits, and blame, and backwards finger pointing.  They do not have elections and pandering and paying out benefits for votes.  They spend cash on infrastructure instead of borrowing for public entitlement programs.  Which economy do you think will win if we continue our taxing and borrowing and not only does it not stimulate job creation in the private sector but diminishes it?

Obama’s gamble: Blaming banks might break job creation, and the economy: what will it mean for your company? is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

The stock markets have dropped 10% and in some sectors there was almost panic selling.  Would China slow exports, the Eurozone slow imports, and the United States suffer a double dip recession as a result?

Important things to ponder if you run a business.

Here is how I see it playing out.

Short term.. markets might do anything,  financial fear was dramatic in its impact on the markets, then the  psychology of purchasers, sales and employment fell.

Medium term I see benefits to housing, land and lots, construction materials, retailers who have adjusted to sell to those who have jobs, and manufacturing for domestic consumption.

Why? Funds will continue to flow into US bonds due to uncertainty in the Eurozone, and the falling Euro, which I believe will continue to fall even after today’s large “rescue”,  and that drives down interest rates.

Lower long term rates will continue the trend started by the Federal housing purchase subsidy by extending the period of time before rates rise.  The Fed was close to raising rates, and now it will delay that with Europe in peril, and for once the United States local economies will benefit from world economic turmoil.  The Euro support should keep a the downside risk somewhat stable limiting a further sharp decline, yet we believe the weakness will continue, in a more manageable way.

Retailers that have adjusted to doing OK by selling to those that are willing to buy, will continue to prosper.  Those that are still not profitable may not do any better.   Those companies that have figured out a way to make money without selling to the unemployed will continue to prosper.

Exports to Europe will drop, but they are “only” about 25% of our exports.  China is slowing their availability of credit, so the funds that were flowing into their stock market will slow.  Major industries will be fine as they get their funds from inside sources.   Exports from China should not be substantially impacted as the US should continue to grow its imports from China, although at a slow pace.

Oil could go either way.  Eurozone economic weakness may keep prices lower, and certainly they will not rise as fast as we thought only two weeks ago.  This is good for consumers, housing, manufacturing, and retailers.

Today; John Paulson, who made lots of money shorting housing before the fall, flipped positive on housing saying that his staff has been observing California, and that the region there usually precedes the rest of the country by 6 months.  He see’s housing up 3 to 5% in 2010 and 7 to 10% in 2011.  There are some big opportunities available for those businesses who have a good consultant with their eye on the economic factors such as these.  Other data sees Florida and California prices rising.

Do you have a good consultant with an understanding of local and world economics, and how it can impact your business?

We have specific marketing and business plan information available by market sector so that you can take advantage of multiple year large trend changes.

Call or email us today for a no charge phone consultation to see if you might benefit from our perspective.

How does the Euro devaluation change your business prospects. is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

Why?

1).  Let google do the spam filtering for you.
2). Your new email address stays with you.  If you change providers or your dotcom name you still have the same email address.
3).  Gmail is a respected brand, and looks a lot better for your small business than some small brand like a local host provider, or OMG, something like AOL.  Hotmail is ok, but I  think Gmail is much better.

I always winced when some one had an AOL email.  I thought right away they were small and not in the know, as AOL was not even the world wide web.  It made an impression on me and not the kind you want to create.  You want to look like you are established, so go with the best of breed, and in email, Gmail is it.

Gmail refreshes content automatically, and with Hotmail you have to continually refresh your browser to see new mail.  Gmail has a superior login system, and also your account links easily to other services that relate to SEO, google analytics, adwords and more.

So create a Gmail account, use your personal name and combine it with your company name, or better yet ask me about creating a brand.

Everyone should be thinking branding, when creating a website name, your email name and so on.

I am working with two small business real estate agents in Bend Oregon, and we have started to move into how to create a memorable brand for each of them.  Look for my blogs and upcoming page on branding.

Or better yet, subscribe now to my email newsletter and receive
weekly articles and custom content not on the blog.  If you ever want to remove yourself from the email list it is simple to do, and we do not share email information with anyone or any body.

The email subscription form is on the Bestbreed Marketing.com Home page.  Clicking this SUBSCRIBE NOW link text will take you there.

3 reasons to use Gmail instead of a dot com email. is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

Trying a couple of widgets.. and have not figured it out yet.
As the Share button is not showing up.

Facebook Share integration with Wordpress is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

I like to start the conversation with a discussion of marketing versus advertising to make a point about how to “create” a brand.

My definition of marketing revolves around the idea that we look at customer needs and wants.. and then figure out how to serve that niche or client base with a product or service that has a high likelihood of being purchased.

Advertising comes into play after we have determined what kind of product or service we are going to offer.

Branding is about half way in between. I like to be well on my way to determining a product and service mix.. for my client, before we get into the branding area.

As we begin creating a brand or analysis of an existing brand for enhancement, I reach into the discussion of
1). Who are your clients.. what do they spend their time doing.
2). What are you, or can learn to be, an expert at.
3). What kind of image can you emphasize and be comfortable and strong with.

Your brand should concentrate on both of these items as we start moving into the art of projection.

You are what you project.. you are on stage, at all times if you truly want to create a memorable and effective brand.

Trump is a great example.. this man lives branding at all times in his public life. It’s a great show.. and he has been fine tuning it for many years. It is fun to watch.. to see how he milks it.

We like to isolate two or three of our clients primary traits.. and then get to work on designing who you are to become.

If you live in the beautiful and resurgent, Bend, Oregon or Central Oregon area and would like to be part of a case study for branding of your small business, send me an email.

Creating a brand, first things first. is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

This turned out to be a way to promote Bend, and I was able to get my website link published which helps in Google rankings.

The article lists Bend Oregon as a top 10 location to buy a home in 2010 based on a number of factors.  My comments concurred and added that land and lots were a suggested investment as you can buy either right now for about one third of the peak values, and land should be a great currency hedge in an uncertain world.  Bend was noted as a top gainer in market price and population growth percentage during the last 5 years, and that it had most likely bottomed and was heading back up.

I quickly googled for Money Magazine, opened the article and found the post.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_realestate/2010/snapshots/375.html

You can see my post there I think its on page 4 of the comments.

I commented on the article and linked the comments to my facebook page and to this website at http://bestbreedmarketing.com

I went to my facebook business page, where the article was posted in my own page there, and made comments about the post.

I then thought of a local friend and real estate expert Shelly Hummel at SellBend.com and sent her a note, and called her recommending that she do the same.  She quickly picked up on the opportunity and you can see her post just above or below mine.

So I accomplished several note-able things in just a few minutes by being aware of the power of social networking and referrals.

I now have a link in a national publication, empowered a friends site, and added to my own reputation as a brand, and added some to my status as an expert in my own field.

So, think about those key words, add them into your commentaries and post your link to your own site, and one referral site.   You will build connections and business over time.

Another way to get early notice of this kind of opportunity is to build a yahoo pipes filter, to send yourself  articles that you might be able to comment on.

http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/

You can see my previous blog on Pipes here:

http://bestbreedmarketing.com/blog/content-feeds-and-creation/

How to react quickly to a media opportunity and link to your webpage is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

Keywords are the “key” to remember when:

1) Authoring pages
2) Authoring blogs

One of the main ways search engines find your pages and posts, is  by searching out words that web users type into their searches.

You might think you know, what people are searching for, but it just makes sense, to see what Google says people are searching for.

For example; Blog article name and blog article content will be more easily found if you include the keywords.

The analytics page reviews your input and suggests alternatives with information about how they are being used.

This is important.  In my own case,  I was wondering if  Google would show my site and or blogs, if I typed in my business category of consultant and location, Central Oregon.

When you do this, think like a customer, and type in what they would be looking for.

I typed in small business consultant Bend, Oregon.   My site was not (yet) shown.   I checked out the top result, and my competition clearly had Bend, Or and small business consulting on their home page, and on review of my own, I found, that I did not.

That changed immediately.

So that basic step should help fairly soon, and I will keep you updated on the results.

So check out Google keywords and play around with it a little bit.

Here is the link

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=2

I think you will find some great words to use in your site language, and posts.

Remember the more often, you use those key words, the easier it is for those searching for you to find you.

Using Googles free tools to determine the best key words for your website. is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

I chose:

-Yahoo’s Pipes.
-Feedzilla

Pipes is a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web.

I viewed their short intro video, and searched for a small business Pipe, selected on, cloned it to be my own (which is part of the purpose) and renamed it.

You can see the result on my blog page at:  bestbreedmarketing.com

Feedzilla

I chose Feedzilla for much of the same reasons, and I liked the scrolling content headers and the general format of the feed.   It took me a bit to figure out how to load the pre-made html from their site.  I moved an html widget into my sidebar, pasted in the code, and it worked right away.

ithemes Builder:

I also want to compliment the team over at ithemes, for their fine Wordpress template development tool, Builder.  Chris and Cory have done a fabulous job and provide excellent support.

Tomorrow; Researching Google key words for consulting,  marketing, and small business in Bend Oregon.

Content feeds and creation. is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

I started with a well respected online favorite that I enjoy.

1). The Wall Street Journal, small business section.

I found a couple of interesting content providers.

1) Onespot.com

According to Onespot:

“The best content comes from a multitude of sources… it could come from anywhere. OneSpot helps you find the good stuff from all the good feeds. OneSpot Retail and Publishing customers have seen OneSpot drive amazing results across their sites…”

Its too expensive for me at this time… at $300 a month, however
I will be coming back to them at a later time.

In the mean time, I will be looking into similar companies to find feeds for my content pages and newsletters.

I will let you know who else is in the running.

Researching content providers. is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com

My area of expertise is as a consultant in marketing for small business. My goal is to provide no cost and low cost methods to jump start your move into social networking marketing.

I have a BBA in Marketing, graduated from the Honors college cum laude at Western Michigan University, and my MBA from Michigan State University. I have been a self employed small business entrepreneur for over 25 years, so I know where you are coming from. This is an opportunity of sorts for those who would like to follow along as I create BestBreedMarketing from scratch.

I will be creating original content, and providing a hands on approach for those that want to DIY with regards to their small business or startup website, branding and marketing. I will be providing feedback on how different methods actually work to increase traffic and business.

There are so many directions to take, and we have all been to the marketing websites, where the authors have tons of links to affiliate sites, and whitepapers that preach what to do. And I see a lot of marketers that do not practice what they preach.
As a client, it makes more sense to go with a vendor that is practicing what they promote.

So my comments will be based on what I find actually works, and I will also note what does not work. That should save others on the same or a similar path a lot of time and funds.

I would appreciate comments from viewers as to their own experiences and suggestions as we all move on towards perhaps similar goals.

If you have a particular topic you are interested in let me know.

Small business and start-up businesses is a post from: bestbreedmarketing.com