Distribution 101 cont......
Build your brand and make sure people know who you are. This is what
drives
sales and makes distributors more likely to want to deal with
you because they know your product sells. Do this by having
screeners
and other collateral about your company (press releases and the such)
to send to companies and distributors.
recognize that the biggest
distributors get hundreds of these each week so there has to be
something that stands out
and makes them want to open yours. You have
to figure out what that is for your individual product.
Expect to lose
money the first 2 years out. What this means is not
that your product wont sell, but that every dime you make should go
into
additional advertising outside of what your distributor might
do. Whether it be in print or web advertising...get your
brand out
there and make it be recognized. Expect to spend AT LEAST $30,000 on
a GOOD marketing campaign JSUT FOR MAGAZINE
ads (Vibe,
XXL,SOURCE..etc)
If you choose to forego seeking a distribution deal with an
established distributor,
the internet is a great place to start, but
how will people know u are there? Well there are a number of free
traffic
generating programs (TGP's) or services you can pay to direct
traffic to your site. But once you get them there, u have
to have
something that will not only keep them but make them want to spend
some money.Good quality clips are the key
to this. If you dont
understand how this is done just go to any Bang Bros. site for an
example.
Bottom line...success
in getting your product distributed is about
having a good product that is both marketable and of good quality and
building
relationships and networking with established distributors.
you WILL NOT get rich in this game until you master and control
your
own distribution.
 Ms. Prissy Lane
Model/Dancer/Companion
AIDS Vs AIM cont......
AIDS is actually the results of being infected with the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The standard AIDS test typically only tests for the presence of the HIV. In contrast
to the AIDS test, the AIM test is more comprehensive. It not only test for the existance of HIV but includes
tests for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Herpes, Hepatitis ABC, and Syphilis. For more information
on AIDS go to www.aids.org and information on AIM go to http://aim-med.org/
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Ms. Kitti
Producer/Adult Actress/Model
How to Organize an Adult Business 101
By: Clyde Dewitt
"This month's column returns to nuts-and-bolts, this time business
entities — partnerships, corporations,
limited liability companies —
and just a general rundown on how a business is organized. These
issues are often
neglected at the time of a business's startup, and
business owners often pay dearly down the road for overlooking some
necessary
details. The simplest example is a one-owner business. By
default, it is a "sole proprietorship." The owner's personal
tax
return has an attachment called "Schedule C," which includes the
business's financial statements in the form required
by the IRS. The
most popular and desirable substitutes for the sole proprietorship
are the corporation and the limited
liability company (or "LLC").
Both are creatures of statute. Either type of so-called "artificial
entity" can own property
(including real property (i.e., land),
intellectual property (e.g., trademarks, copyrights and patents) and
personal
property (most everything else), bring lawsuits, be sued,
enter into contracts, and do most other things that a natural
person
can do. There is little difference between corporations and LLCs.
Both are created by filing something with the
secretary of state,
either articles of incorporation (sometimes called a charter) for a
corporation or articles of organization
for an LLC. Corporations are
owned by shareholders; LLCs are owned by members. In either case,
the owners designate
people to operate the entity, directors and
officers for corporations or managers for LLCs. Corporations have
bylaws;
LLCs have operating agreements. But where there is only one
owner or a small number of them, the functionality of corporations
and
LLCs is identical as a practical matter. In such cases, the
decision as to whether to use the LLC or corporate form is
normally
the accountant's call, not the attorney's. Accordingly, from thispoint forward,
only corporations will be considered, because the only difference from one
to the other at this level is the type of documents that your attorney draws
up for you. LLCs are trendy, by the way, but not necessarily the better choice.
By all means, consult with your accountant. There are a number of "old wives
tales"
about corporations, most notably — after the misconception
that it is a good idea to incorporate in Nevada regardless
of
whether you live there — the notion of limited liability. Liability
is limited, but not entirely so. This is
how it works: Assume that a
corporation owns a delivery truck and, in the course of making a
delivery, the truck's driver
negligently crashes into someone.
Theoretically, the victim can sue both the driver and the
corporation, and collect
from either. (The particulars vary
according to state law.) In a one-person corporation, likely the
driver is also the
sole owner of the corporate stock. So the
corporation does not really insulate him from liability. The same
would be
true for copyright infringement. However, if the driver of
the delivery truck is a corporate employee that is not the owner,
or
if the one engaging in copyright infringement is a non-owning
employee, there is a limit of liability. The plaintiff
could sue the
driver or the copyright infringer, as well as the corporation, but
could not sue the shareholder on a
personal basis, so long as the
shareholder was not personally complicit. Note: These kinds of risks
should be covered
by insurance. Where using a corporation becomes
really important, however, is when a business venture fails. Suppose
a
business gets going, begins steadily making money and indeed
thrives; but then things take a turn for the worse. The market
dries
up, or the company fails to keep abreast with technology. Suddenly,
the corporation is deeply in the red, losing
more and more money
each month. This is where the difference between a sole
proprietorship and a corporation becomes
substantial. Assume that
the owner decides to shut the doors to the business. If the business
is operated by an unincorporated
individual, the creditors can sue
the owner personally for the business's debts, which makes sense
because the owner
and the business are the same. The owner of
corporate stock, on the other hand, is not liable for the
contractual debts
of the corporation. This is of particular
significance in light of the recent reforms of the bankruptcy laws
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If a corporation files Chapter 7 bankruptcy (which is the
conventional version,
rather than reorganization), it simply shuts
down. The assets of the corporation are distributed to the
creditors, as
long as the assets last. The corporation then simply
evaporates. Under the new bankruptcy reform laws, being in business
without
a corporation can be very dangerous, since it is extremely
difficult, if not impossible, for an individual to discharge
business
debts, thanks to the "reform." Contrary to what has been
the practice for decades, an individual cannot file bankruptcy
and
be allowed to "start anew." A corporation still can be dissolved,
and its owner can start anew with a substitute
corporation. There
are exceptions to limited liability. Corporate officers and
directors can be held responsible for
corporate taxes and unpaid
wages under circumstances that are beyond the scope of this article.
And don't forget the
delivery truck driver. To avail yourself of
corporate protections, there are several important rules. The first
is to
make sure that taxes get paid, especially employee
withholdings, because you can be personally on the hook for those.
Second,
be sure you are properly insured. Third, it is important to
follow corporate formalities, which means having an attorney
and a
CPA. All too often, a business owner can face personal liability
because he overlooked the required formalities
such as issuing
corporate stock, drafting bylaws, conducting annual meetings (or
executing waivers) or, most importantly,
failing to keep corporate
and personal funds separate. Also, it is especially important that
the corporation remain
in good standing with the secretary of state.
Your attorney will draft the required documentation, and your CPA
will
be sure you are not undercapitalized, and explain to you how to
maintain separate bank accounts and maintain the formalities
of
paying yourself a salary and taking draws. If you learn anything
from this article, learn this: Have separate corporate
and personal
bank accounts; have corporate credit cards and personal credit
cards; and use the corporate accounts for
corporate expenses and the
personal accounts for personal expenses. Always! No exceptions!
There are other good reasons
to incorporate, the most significant
being the perpetual existence of a corporation. For example, if the
owner of a
sole proprietorship dies, so does the business, and the
business assets are distributed to the heirs. But a corporation
survives
intact. It maintains its contracts, leases, property
ownership, and so on, notwithstanding the owner's demise. Also, a
corporate
business can be partially or entirely sold without
affecting its day-to-day activities. For example, if a corporate
owner
is getting on in years and wants to turn the business over to
her children, she can do so gradually, phasing out her ownership.
Yet,
the transition is seamless. That brings us to the next step,
which complicates things immensely: Partners. There are very
good
business reasons to have partners, but a business with two owners is
10 times as complicated as a business with
only one. For starters,
the worst imaginable form of business entity is a general
partnership, unless the partners are
corporations. In addition to
the good reasons for a sole owner of a business to incorporate, a
multi-owner business
that is not incorporated is, by definition, a
partnership — and partners are each personally liable for all of the
debts
of the partnership. Thus, if you are a 10 percent partner, you
are typically entitled to 10 percent of the profits, but
always can
be on the hook for 100 percent of the partnership's indebtedness.
There are many considerations when starting
a multi-owner corporate
business, and here are just a few of them: What happens if one of
the partners dies? Gets divorced?
Stops performing, either of his
own volition or because of disability? Decides she wants to sell
out? Goes personally
bankrupt? This is complicated further by the
fact that many partnerships are formed because one partner has money
and
the other has talent; or because the partners have differing
kinds of talent (a simple example being a vocalist, a piano
player,
a bass player and a drummer). While the nuances of this are beyond
the scope of this article, there are several
measures that can be
put into place to avoid, for example, finding yourself in a
partnership with your deceased partner's
three children. One is a so-
called "buy-sell agreement." Assuming the business is owned by two
50-50 partners, the
partners might write a contract agreeing that
the business is worth, for example, $2 million. The contract might
go
on to provide that if either partner dies, his stock will be
bought out by the other for $1 million; and further that each
partner
buys a life insurance policy on the other for that amount,
the proceeds of which are earmarked for the buyout. So, if Partner
B
dies, his life insurance pays $1 million to Partner A, which Partner
A uses to buy all of Partner B's stock from his
estate. Another
typical provision in a small-business arrangement is that nobody can
sell his shares in the corporation
without the approval of all of
the other shareholders. (Otherwise, by default, shares of corporate
stock can be sold.)
Agreements also usually require that the
partners devote to the business their full-time efforts (as defined
in the
agreement), and that they not invest in other businesses
without consent of other shareholders. There obviously is much
more
to all of this, and this is nothing more than an alert to some of
the mines in the corporate minefield. Obviously,
employing the
services of an attorney, a CPA and a business insurance agent are
imperative.
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