How many businesses do you have?

I've been doing my "Ad Programs" since the first year "Ronaldo the Magnificent" became Pres....when he took the country from stifling 23% interest rates (Carter and Congress were Democrats) down to "normal" rates. And the country's business people started to "breathe easier" and could "let go of some of their cash" on Ad Programs.

I usually take a month to set up a new Ad Program....getting 20 to 30 participants....creating their ads and producing the program. My Ad Programs are usually for 12 months so it is very easy to know WHEN it's time to Renew.

And "Renewals" are usually a matter of sending participants an Invoice and I then spend a few days filling in any spots not renewed.

So...during any given month...I am;
1) Renewing programs
or
2) Starting a new one

Some months I do nothing but renew programs. I have a "Graphics Gal" who creates all my ads....and if I need printing or laminating or collating done, I farm it out.

Makes for a pretty simple, yet lucrative business. On almost any given day, I can "take off" and go "shopping in the big city"....or go to the coast and sit on the beach....or go to my favorite fishing hole....or go "hunting for Antiques". And, almost every day I take my wife out to lunch.

No "system" is required.

Don Alm....Advertising Salesguy

Thanks guys --
Don, so do you just resell your boards, menus, etc whatever is ready to renew/initiate? every month?
so.. like Jan you might sellout Bobs pizza menus renewal, the menu board at ABC diner, etc? In feb, you have others, etc.
Do you just keep track of whats renewing.. just seems like you have a lot going on , and would be tougher to keep it all straight.
Thanks again,
Jason

I started my first business in 1993 when William Jefferson Clinton(Democrat) took over for Shrub Senior and took country out of a recession and over saw longest economic expansion in history.

Although it is good to have multiple streams of income, it can get confusing so now I concentrate on one core business and slowly build a secondary business.

Mark

Robert Allen Wrote a great book on the subject called "Streams of Income" He also put in audio.

I do taxes in January -April and joint venture other times. And sell books on the net. I also have a few accounting work that I do all year.

Jason, I had to let things go for the time being but here are some things that worked when I was multi-lining things.

A spiral bound notebook that I use to note briefly what takes place on a day to day basis. If I'm not sure something was done, I can look here.

I have a card file (tried database but too inconvenient) for contacts and URLS ect.

A file for each biz plus sub-files for each portion such as advertising/promo for that biz, clips and info for future use for ezine (each ezine has own file), and so on. It was suggested that I use different colored files for ease in determining where things belonged but I found it pointless when I could just read the tab on the folder. I was always running out of the correct color anyway, no matter how many I purchased so gave it up.

Most importantly I have and USE my Day Minder to list appointments, to-do's and reminders. It's mostly for business but if something personal takes place during business hours, it will go in there, too, so nothing is overlooked and no conflicts occur. I find the 8" x 5" size works great for me. It sits, open to the current date, on my desktop so I don't overlook something important.

I also use colored highlighters on times according to which biz it relates to. Makes it easy to see at a glance what the noon appointment relates to versus the 4:00 P.M. one so I have the right folders handy if needed.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Sandi Bowman