Information Technology for Business Models

Information technology is an umbrella term that covers the hardware used for instant communication -- computers, cellphones and tablets -- and the software programs that facilitate the technological communication -- operating systems, data storage and social networks. The information age is characterized by an influx of IT, which has become an integral part of modern business models. Companies adapt by adding technology and reorganizing business structures to include IT.

Types of Business Models
There are four basic types of business models: Brokers, Creators, Distributers and Landlords. There are four types of assets that the basic models deal with: Human, Financial, Physical or Intangible. When you mix a business model with an asset, you get the refined model type, also called the, "specialized variation." For example, a Human Creator business model would work for an artist, a grocery store would use a Physical Distributer model and a bank lender uses a Financial Broker business model.

IT Successes
Many organization have used IT to boost success, and some of the highest-performing companies in past decades have been technology-driven computer and software firms. Brokers use IT to reach out to customers, while Distributers sell in demand for IT products and use IT to make transactions. Creators have more options to advertise and self-distribute. Data collection and storage has made it easier for companies to record and store customer information. This has been particularly helpful for healthcare Distributers. Many companies have increased revenue through data collection because advertisers can easily used stored transaction information for market research.

IT Issues
IT's affect has not been completely positive. IT connects information storage banks, so unscrupulous people can access unprotected, sensitive information and use it for illegal or unethical purposes. This problem is especially severe for business models dealing with Human or Financial assets because personal and fiscal information is susceptible to attacks. Businesses such as banks and hospitals have had to switch over to IT systems to keep up with current practices, but these companies have also had to spend an inordinate amount of money to protect and secure their information databanks.

The Social Factor
Social networking is a kind of IT software that displays personal information and connects groups of friends or colleagues. Social networks have shifted friendly communication from private to public and combined with busses to convert advertising from a one-way to a two-way interaction. Social networking is an evolving IT, but it encourages business models to share and react in real-time (just like other network members) instead of through delayed communication.

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Strengths & Weaknesses of Advertising Online

Advertising on the Internet definitely has a number of positive attributes, such as the wide variety of budgets that can access this marketing medium as well as the massive readership base well-targeted online advertisement can reach. However, marketing as an online business tactic is not without its flaws, particularly due to fraudulent activity that mimics legitimate advertising traffic.

The Wide Reach of Internet Marketing
Facebook, the popular social networking website, boasts more than 500 million subscribed users. With such a massive captive audience, it quickly becomes clear how ads on Facebook and other similar social media sites can put a company's ad directly in front of a very targeted consumer audience. The level of personal information users choose to share freely with the public also dictates to an extent how closely ads can zero in to focus on their particular interests. Some consumers may find the notion of what they watch watching them understandably chilling, though the pattern for targeted marketing is already well-established, making such concerns largely moot. Less targeted platforms for Internet marketing, such as Google AdSense, expand the opportunity for online marketing to virtually every corner of the Internet, offering the chance to monetize virtually any sort of highly trafficked online content.

Online Advertising Fraud
In a spirit somewhat similar to the snake oil salesmen of a bygone era, online fraudsters try to manipulate people's needs into their own gain by creating computer programs to input fake ad clicks as a means of artificially manipulating ad revenue share payouts. The practice is widely considered black hat and arguably even fraudulent; however, for the most part, online advertising agencies police their own systems by removing repeat offenders from their services. The countermeasures relating to catching these online scam artists are exceedingly intricate and somewhat beyond the grasp of the average computer user, but the process starts by tracing the suspected fraudster's IP address.

Open-Ended Versus Direct-to-Merchant Website Ads
Open-ended advertising does a fine job of advertising a general company's brand name and is especially well-suited to products that do not lend themselves to online purchasing, such as automobiles and consumable grocery store products. Products with extended shelf lives, such as electronics, books and other media are better suited to drive traffic directly to their merchant website, resulting in actual sales. Tracking statistical software integrated directly into a business website can help merchants determine which ads are referring most customers, and of those referred customers, who among them are finalizing their purchases.

Overall Profitability Outlook
Virtually any business with an online merchant component stands to directly benefit in terms of profitability from a more in-depth online advertising campaign. However, it is important to research and verify the legitimacy of each possible ad agency, since some less reputable online advertising mediums are susceptible to fraudulent abuse.

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Tips to Advertise Using Twitter

Twitter is an online micro-blogging site that allows users to tweet short messages in 140 characters or fewer. Businesses advertise using Twitter by creating profiles and tweeting sales, specials and other important business information. Accumulating Twitter followers increases the number of people who read your tweets and may purchase your merchandise or services. Most small businesses target local customers in Twitter advertising campaigns. Effectively advertising using Twitter can increase consumer awareness and boost sales.

Create a Twitter account for your business. Choose a unique user name, such as the name of your business.

Complete your Twitter profile. Include your location, a short description of your business and a link to your company website.

Create a custom background for your Twitter page. Go to "Settings" and click the "Design" tab. Press "Change Background Image" and upload a picture. Choose a background that is reminiscent of your business, such as a picture of your building or your services.

Start following people and other businesses. Search for similar businesses, friends, family members, professional colleagues and clients.

Accumulate Twitter followers to increase your impact. Include your Twitter information on email signatures and business cards to encourage others to follow you. Reply to conversations and retweet others' content to increase Twitter followers.

Begin tweeting important news or information three or four times per day. Include timely news pieces, announcements of your services and other company news.

Launch a Twitter advertising campaign after you accumulate some followers. Tweet your sales, specials and other promotions. Offer followers deep discounts if they use a special coupon code.

Offer contests or quizzes to encourage your Twitter followers to participate. Make the contest prize a free item or service at your business. This boosts your followers and raises local awareness of your business.

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Definition of Video Marketing

Video marketing is a relatively new form of product promotion that can be highly effective when used properly. Though visual marketing has been used for some time in the form of television advertisements, video marketing differs in some important ways. This form of marketing is becoming more and more popular, and if done well, it can create a large and receptive audience.

Video Marketing Concept
In its simplest form, video marketing is the practice of creating a promotional video for a product or service and uploading it to the Internet. Video marketers rely less on words and more on creating a "buzz" around their product that will prompt viewers to act in a certain way. Marketing in this manner can be a cost-effective method of advertising because many websites allow businesses to upload their videos free of charge.

Video Placement and Promotion
Video marketers place their videos on popular video websites such as YouTube and DailyMotion. They do this because these sites receive large amounts of daily traffic. This can amount to quite a bit of product exposure. Marketers hope that their videos will be viewed by many people, some of whom may be potential customers. They optimize their chances for this by submitting their video advertisements with relevant keywords.

Going Viral
The overarching goal of any video marketing campaign is to create a fan base. To this end, video advertisements often do not appear to be advertisements at all. Companies may create a video that is entertaining and engaging but still features their company mascot as the primary character. The goal of such subtle advertising is for viewers to enjoy the video so much that they share it with their friends, who in turn share it with theirs. This is known as "going viral." By creating a large fan base for their videos, advertisers hope that this will translate into a better reputation for their product and an increase in sales.

Common Strategies
Several strategies are typically employed by video marketers. One strategy involves hosting a video contest on one of the large video hosting websites. A cash prize is offered to the person or team who creates the best video featuring the company's mascot. As teams compete for the prize money, they must familiarize themselves with the sponsor's business. Meanwhile, hundreds and potentially thousands of people will see the resulting videos. This can help garnish curiosity about the company and its product. Another method of video marketing involves companies creating "fan pages" on social networking sites such as Facebook. There they can upload their promotional videos to a receptive audience.

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Disadvantages of Internet Advertising

Advertising on the Internet attracts a large number of businesses and individuals for obvious reasons. Many Internet applications are free, and you can potentially reach customers around the world. However, Internet advertising also presents substantial drawbacks and disadvantages that can take the sheen off of its appeal.

SEO is Challenging
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a key aspect of successful Internet marketing and advertising. The art of SEO involves structuring your text to conform to the dictates of Internet search engines so they list your website near the top of their results. Because most people who use search engines don't venture past the first few pages of results, it's critical to a website's success that it rank near the top. Learning how optimize SEO can be challenging and time-consuming; it involves the usage and proper placement of keywords and phrases, and requires learning how to write in a different way than what you likely are used to.

Competition
If you were the only advertiser on the Internet, you could probably become a millionaire in a week, because you would have free or almost free access to millions of potential customers. In the real world, any message that you put onto the Internet is competing with hordes of other people doing the same thing. This greatly reduces the chances that a buyer is going to see and respond to your particular advertisement.

Separation of Product and Customer
The Internet is an outstanding method of transferring text and information over great distances, but it doesn't convey objects. If you are promoting or trying to sell tangible objects, you need to convey information about them to your buyers solely through text and photographs. This can make it difficult to get buyers excited about your product, particularly if it is something that has tangible appeal, such as clothing, furniture or art.

Risk of Fraud
A certain percentage of the people using the Internet are not trying to make an honest deal, but using all kinds of nefarious and underhanded methods to dishonestly separate people from their money. This can happen in both directions in any Internet transaction -- bogus customers can get merchandise using fake credit cards or other dishonest means, or crooked sellers can acquire customers' money or credit card numbers without delivering the goods.

Consumer Distrust
The presence of this criminal element on the Internet makes many people wary of claims and advertisements that are made online. Not only are some people hesitant to buy things online, but they are less likely to trust claims, promotions and advertisements that they see online as well. Because the only contact between buyer and seller is through the screen of a computer, the personal element that has traditionally been a part of commerce is lost.

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What is CPM in Internet Advertising

Although the mediums have changed, advertising has been around for centuries. From vintage ads for tonics and powders to flash-based Internet display ads for travel and insurance, the goal is still the same: to get a company's name in front of consumers. Despite changing technologies, pricing models for advertising have remained similar. CPM is one example.

Definition of CPM
CPM, an advertising pricing model, stands for “cost per thousand” impressions. So, why the “M” and not a “T”? The acronym originally stood for “cost per mille;” mille is the Latin word for thousand. If you are a homeowner, mille may also sound familiar to you; it is also a term used by municipalities to figure out local tax rates.

How CPM Works
CPM has been used in traditional marketing for decades. The cost of an ad is determined by how many approximate impressions, or views, the ad receives. More simply, an impression is when someone sees the ad. For example, a front page ad in a newspaper with a circulation of 10,000 may receive 20,000 impressions since newspapers are typically shared. In newspapers, circulation numbers are used to determine the advertisement's cost, while in television, it is viewers, and on radio, listeners. When online advertising began, CPM was a perfect formula; display ads could be priced based on the amount of views a page received.

CPM Pricing for Online Advertising
In the CPM pricing model, a price is set per one thousand impressions. Thus, if an online banner ad is set at $10 CPM and the website gets 10,000 views, the total cost for the advertiser would be $100. Individual advertisers create their own CPM price point; it varies from industry to industry. Unlike traditional media where prices were fixed based on estimated reach, in Internet marketing, the total ad cost can be tabulated by actual data collected from website analytics.

CPM Versus CPC
CPM was once more popular for online advertising. In the mid-2000s, the trend began moving toward a performance model, or cost-per-click (CPC). This trend coincides with Google's entry into selling online ads. CPC is based on actual conversions, meaning that the user clicked on the ad. This direct response has an easier-to-measure return-on-investment (ROI) than impressions alone. However, impressions can be an important part of an advertising strategy if your company is looking for visibility.

Examples of CPM Advertising
Google AdWords is one of the leading advertising platforms for Internet markers. While the CPC model is used more widely on this platform, marketers can also choose the CPM model. On AdWords, users choose to bid manually, choosing their own maximum bid rather than using Google's automated process, for impressions by setting a maximum bid per 1,000 impressions. Facebook Ads also allows marketers to choose between CPC and CPM. Affiliate marketing programs, or Internet marketing programs allowing websites to advertise a company's products for a commission on their own websites, will also use CPM to reward affiliates for impressions earned. Finally, independent websites, such as blogs, magazines and newspapers, will sell ad space based on CPM. Local newspapers, for instance, may offer ads to local businesses and charge the business based on the number of views the ad receives.

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Best Sources of Advertising on Internet

Internet advertising is one of the fastest-growing forms of advertising media. Companies and individuals alike have embraced it as a cheaper way to promote their products. Furthermore the nature of the Internet allows them to reach a global media that is not always the case with newspapers, radio or television. The more companies that invest in Internet advertising. the more it expands and opens up new niches. The opportunities seem endless; but as of early 2011, some sources were better than others.

Search Engines and Pay Per Click (PPC)
"Pay Per Click" advertising, or PPC for short, is one of the most widespread forms of Internet advertising. Google currently holds the majority of the market in this advertising medium. PPC advertising is very successful because it targets relevant consumers. Your ads show on web pages that are related to your products and you pay for each time a user clicks on the links to your website. PPC is one of the oldest forms of Internet advertising, and it still remains a great choice for targeted advertising.

Affiliate Programs
You can also create an affiliate program that helps with the promotion and selling of your products. Affiliates are members that sign up and promote your products on their websites. When a sale is made, the affiliate receives a percentage of the sale. This is very similar to how sales work outside the Internet, where a salesperson receives a commission for completing a sale. Affiliate programs can also revolve around bringing in more traffic and generating leads for your business. While no sale is involved the affiliate gets paid for the traffic and leads referred to your website.

Social Media
One of the most popular recent sources of Internet advertising has been the use of social media. Social media encompasses a lot of different categories, such as social networking, with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter being the most recognizable. User-generated content is another category, with YouTube and Ning communities being in the lead. Other forms of social media marketing include blogging and podcasting. Advertising through social media is usually done by interacting with members of the community and introducing them to your business through your content that you create via articles, videos and blog posts.

Banner Advertising
Banner Advertising has become a popular Internet advertising medium, as it allows you to target potential customers through the websites they frequent. Banner advertising is similar to the traditional display ads found in newspapers and magazines. Banners are graphical advertisements purchased on popular websites weekly or monthly in an attempt to bring targeted traffic from the popular website back to the website of your business or service offering.

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Be Google AdWords Certified

Becoming Google AdWords certified will allow you to prove your knowledge of the Google AdWords advertising platform to potential customers. You can become certified both as an individual and as a company by fulfilling a set of requirements. To become certified as an individual, you will need to study and pass both the Fundamentals exam and one out of three Advanced exams.

Preparing For the Exams
Log into the AdWords Certification Program account using your Google e-mail and password on the Google Certification Program website. Click on "My Exams" on the left-hand sidebar.

Click on "Study for this exam" next to Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam. Even if you are already familiar with Google AdWords, the exam may cover points such as invoicing that you are not familiar with. The learning center will open in a new window.

Click on Google Advertising Fundamentals. Review the topics on the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam until you are ready to take the exam. You can print them and review them offline, or use the learning center online. There is no time limit to how much you can study.

Choose one of the other advanced tests to study. To become certified you will only require one of the three possible advanced tests, so choose the one that interests you more and review until you are ready to take the exam.

Taking the Exams
Navigate back to "My Exams" tab on your AdWords Certification Program account. Write down your Candidate ID.

Click on "Take This Exam" next to Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam. This will open the Google Testing Center in a new window. If you have not created an account yet, click "Create an account now", complete all the fields and submit.

Click "Purchase Test" and purchase the "Google Advertising Fundamentals" and the advanced test you chose to study. Click "Place Order" and complete your purchase using your preferred checkout method. You will receive an e-mail confirmation.

Click on the link in the email to activate your online products. This will take you back to your profile page, and you will need to enter the Candidate ID and click "Save."

Ensure you have two hours free of distractions for each exam you intend to take. The exams are composed of about 100 questions, and you will not be able to stop the timer once started. You will need to pass with at least 85 percent correct answers on the Fundamentals exam, and 75 percent on the Advanced exam.

Accept the terms and conditions to activate your exam. Click "Start Online" and follow the directions to start the exam, which will open in a separate tab.

Pass both the Fundamentals and your chosen Advanced exam to become AdWords certified.

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How to Make App for Business

More than 200,000 applications already for sale on the market prove that you can advertise your business while making money at the same time. In order to have high app sales and brand recognition, you need a useful, unique application, whether you develop it yourself or get help from a programmer.

Choose a niche that relates to your business. For example, if you own a company that designs and creates
games, you would probably want to create a game app.

Build upon popular ideas, or choose an idea that is unique. Look through the marketplace and sift through the popular applications. Brainstorm a few ideas for an app that relates to your business. Get feedback from other people and pick the idea that is the most original.

Download and install MockApp to your computer. Use this program to lay out a rough draft of your app. Arrange all your images and text in an appealing way. Ensure that the application pages will look visibly pleasing to the average user.

Hire an expert to develop the application for you. Look for independent developers, since they tend to charge cheaper prices for their services. Prepare to pay $3,000 to $10,000 for an app, depending on the complexity of the job.

Decide how much you want to make per app sale. Base the price on how much you paid the developer and the app's quality. Check what apps similar to yours are selling for. Market the app as much as you can after putting it up for sale.

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Change Yellow Pages Listing

If you've recently changed any of your business contact details and are worried about losing customers as a result of out-of-date business listings, you can quickly and easily update your presence on Yellow Pages. It just takes a few clicks of a mouse. You'll also be given the chance to change any copy that accompanies your contact details.

Navigate to the "Improve your listing" page on the Yellow Pages website.

Enter the primary phone number you gave when you set the listing up in the search box and click "Find."

Enter additional information as directed to verify that you are the listing owner and proceed to the "Add/change info" screen.

Change your listing as required, review and then confirm to action the changes.

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Create Adwords Campaigns in Bulk

Tired of spending hours on the AdWords interface creating campaigns? Instead of creating your ads one by one, you can expedite the whole process by doing everything in bulk. Though AdWords Editor is great for editing in bulk, it's still quite slow for creating campaigns. The best way to create AdWords campaigns en mass quickly is to do it in a spreadsheet format and then upload that spreadsheet using AdWords Editor. You can create campaigns, ad groups, keyword bids and ads all through spreadsheets.

Download and install Google AdWords Editor. Setup your login information so the software can interface with your account.

Go to Data > AdGroups > Add/Edit Multiple AdGroups. Look at the different fields the system needs in the spreadsheet and create a similar spreadsheet in any spreadsheet program. Make sure the columns are all in order. For AdGroups, the columns are: "Campaign, AdGroup, Max CPC, Content CPC, Placement CPC, Max CPM, Max CPA." Save this spreadsheet.

Repeat the process for Keywords by going to Keywords > Add/Update Multiple Keywords. Do the same for Text Ads.

Fill out each of these spreadsheets with the keywords, bids, match types and ads that you want. You can literally add thousands of keywords and ads at a time to these spreadsheets. Once you're finished, save the spreadsheets.

Go back to the Add/Edit multiple menu. Copy the entire spreadsheet and paste it into the box. Click "Next." Assuming all the data are correctly parsed, Google will show you a list of all the changes.

Upload your changes by clicking "Post Selected Campaigns."

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Advantages of Pop-Up Ads

Pop-up ads are a form of online marketing where the intent is to advertise a product as well as attract web traffic and/or capture email addresses. They are typically generated by JavaScript and appear as secondary browser windows. Contents vary, ranging from company promotional videos and opt-in forms meant to generate leads to messages with the latest news. Although many Internet users consider pop-up ads obtrusive, they are good at grabbing users' attention and can be effective as a marketing strategy once you leverage their advantages.

Amplified Visibility
Pop-up ads are highly visible. They are usually set up to either fade out part of the screen or block the center of the page where the user would be focusing. By designing them to stay on top of the open website window, they guarantee the attention of the user, who must glance at them before closing the window. Just like an insert in the local daily, a pop-up is a freestanding ad that can't be visually ignored.

Traffic Conversion
Different people may seek the same product on your site for different reasons. You need to address those reasons in your pitch to achieve optimum effectiveness. This can be accomplished via a pop-up ad that offers useful information to the right person, in the right place -- your website -- and at the right time. You can expect your conversion rate to climb if the pop-up ad is relevant at the individual user level, as the user is compelled to follow up with the call to action.

Instant Customer Feedback
A pop-up on your website can be an invaluable tool for getting instant feedback. You can set it up on one of your pages, such as one with frequently asked questions, so that visitors can easily and quickly inquire or comment about your product or service. In addition to introducing users to other product offers you are promoting, the pop-up helps you gauge how customers feel about your products and/or services, or your company in general.

Pop-Up Ads are Versatile
Depending on how you want to set up your message, pop-ups offer a versatile platform that can accommodate different ad types. They can be designed to prevent a visitor from leaving your site until they click on the ad, or to open a new tab or window whenever a visitor closes them, ensuring your message is viewed. Some can house a video or a game to entice visitors. When suitably packaged, pop-up ads can offer your visitors an indelible image of what your business does.

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Write a Promotional Email Letter

People receive several email promotions a day and decide whether or not they will delete them only a few seconds after opening them. When writing a promotional email for your business, keeping a few things in mind will make your promotion stand out and potentially bring money to your business. Taking the time to plan your promotion and who your target audience is, are the first steps in ensuring that you write a successful promotional email.

Plan your promotion and what you want the respondent to get from the promotion. Focus your emails on
people who are potential clients. Don't send out emails to random people.

Get the reader's attention from the beginning of your email. Catching their interest from the beginning gets them to continue reading. If you provide tutoring services, think of a statistic for reading that grabs the attention of the reader and hooks them. For example, "The state of Texas bases the number of prisons it needs to build in the future on third grade state testing scores."

Explain to the reader the benefits of your promotion. Explain to them what you are offering, what they will receive and why they need it. For example, "Your child will receive instruction from a teacher with 20 years experience who will get them to the level they need to be by the end of the year."

Include a call to action. Tell the reader to do something. For example, "Call today to receive one hour of free tutoring for your child." Include your contact information including a phone number, email address or website address.

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Linkshare Payment Options

Linkshare is a powerful affiliate-marketing network used by advertisers and publishers worldwide. Since 1996, Linkshare has offered online advertisers and marketers powerful and effective push-button pay-per-click campaigns and payment systems. It works very simply: An advertiser sets a price on a text or banner link to their website, a website owner or blogger inserts the link on his page, and the owner or blogger is then compensated based on the number of unique users that click the link. Publishers, the website owners or bloggers, must reach a predetermined payout level in order to collect their earnings.

Payment Terms
The payment terms for the Linkshare network are very straightforward. Once an advertiser receives an invoice, the advertiser remits payment to the affiliates through the Linkshare network. The minimum payout for affiliates with Linkshare is only $1.00, but advertisers are allowed to set higher thresholds on campaigns, as much as $50. In order to receive payouts, the affiliate must be in good-standing with the network and not be under scrutiny for fraudulent click-thrus.

Direct Deposit
Affiliates for the network have the convenience of direct deposit at the end of each calendar month. This structure offers convenience and flexibility for affiliate payments on a regular basis. The publisher provides Linkshare with his banking information via the secure portion of the website and receives regular payments thereafter. The publisher also has the option to select PayPal or paper check if he opts out of direct deposit.

Payment Examples
At the end of each calendar month, based on the terms negotiated with Linkshare, the advertiser pays the affiliate. For example, if a publisher runs advertisements for a specific advertiser from October 1 thru October 31, the publisher is eligible for payments on November 30 once Linkshare confirms that the click-thrus are valid. Essentially, Linkshare acts as a liaison between advertisers and publishers, tracking click-thrus and keeping everyone honest.

Reporting
The Linkshare dashboard for publishers offers comprehensive reporting on statistics and earnings. All the data on the website is displayed in real-time and guaranteed accurate by the Linkshare team. This gives publishers peace of mind knowing that Linkshare is overseeing the statistics and monitoring traffic to guarantee correct payouts. This is also a powerful tool for webmasters to evaluate which ads are most popular on their website.

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How to Set Up Advertising Agency in QuickBooks

The best way to set up an advertising agency in QuickBooks is to write out an implementation strategy and formulate a plan. A written plan will reduce mistakes and keep files in QuickBooks free of erroneous information. A well-thought-out strategy for implementing QuickBooks in an advertising agency is the best plan for an optimized accounting operation.

QuickBooks Accounting Wizard
A starting point in setting up an advertising agency is to use the automated “wizard” setup feature in QuickBooks. The setup features various types of businesses and accounts to choose from. The QuickBooks automated feature is designed to ask questions concerning business structure and accounts. If you're a novice, you should use this setup to establish basic accounts for the advertising agency or seek assistance from an accounting professional.

Adding Extra Accounts
Many advertising agencies have specialized accounts such as a manufacturing materials account, which may not be included in the initial setup. Extra revenue, expense or special accounts can be added through the QuickBooks automated wizard. The wizard will prompt you to add extra accounts. A simple strategy for adding accounts is to know what specialized accounts are needed; if you're unsure, consult an accountant before creating extra or specialized accounts. Tax information, when verified, can be added to the tax table during setup.

Payroll and Tax Configuration
Payroll and tax information should be researched and annotated before implementing company setup through QuickBooks. The strategy is to ensure that city, state and federal rates are correctly implemented into the tax table for sales and payroll purposes. Tax rates and information change annually; the advertising agency should verify the current tax rates before setting up tax tables in QuickBooks.

Vendor Information
The vendor list information in QuickBooks is important because it provides detailed information concerning vendors, their tax identification numbers, email addresses (for emailing of purchase orders and invoices), vendor discount rates and contact information. QuickBooks vendor lists are integrated with the purchase and invoice module programs. Vendor information should be completed as much as possible during the setup function.

Client, Item and Service Lists
The QuickBooks automated feature in setting up an advertising agency allows your company to establish client list files. Client list files provide information on clients, such as email and account numbers established by the QuickBooks system. Item lists provide inventory that an advertising agency has on hand, such as paper or specialized advertising products for customers. Service lists include detailed descriptions of special services offered by the company, such as billboard advertising spaces for clients. All lists should be completed at this point of the setup.

Non-Setup Automated Features
Non-setup automated features for advertising agencies are features that aren't automated in the initial QuickBooks automated setup but are still important to company operations. Online banking is a feature that can be initiated outside of the initial setup. A strategy in establishing online banking features through QuickBooks is to communicate with a banking account representative on information needed by the company to integrate the QuickBooks banking feature with the bank used by your company.

Network Considerations
QuickBooks is an accounting software program that is a “network” program, which means that several users can access different parts of the software at the same time. An advertising agency with several employees should create a plan on what data resources can be accessed by various employees.

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