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December 2023 The Contractor’s Advantage
HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000 jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
A CASE STUDY IN SIMPLICITY
2 Practical Strategies Saved Our Client’s Future
I work with many clients, from general contractors to subcontractors and all the other construction industry professionals. And to help these clients, I have a plethora of legal strategies at my disposal. However, over the years, I’ve found straightforward, practical solutions are often best. Let me give you an example. I have a client who does government contracting for school districts, and for the sake of this article, we’ll call him Elliot. Elliot does specific construction work for school districts around the entire region. If there’s a school district in our area, he’s worked with them. The tricky thing about working with school districts is that you have to be on good terms with everyone. These types of government contracts make you certify all sorts of things to be eligible to do their work. One of those things they make you certify is that nobody has ever found you to be a “not responsible bidder.” This happens when a school district reports that a construction company did such bad work that they will no longer review bids from them. It’s also one of the worst possible outcomes for a company that does government work. So, back to Elliot. Elliot’s company was working on a construction project for a school district in Maryland, and from the start, this project had a lot of problems. While Elliot’s job was just to complete a specific part of the project, in the end, the project as a whole wasn’t completed to the school board’s standards.
he bids for that he was once found to be a “not responsible bidder.” It was a career-ending sentence and especially problematic since, technically, Elliot hadn’t done anything wrong. His part of that previous project wasn’t the issue. He was just a part of the wrong project at the wrong time. Elliot wasn’t going to let his career end before his eyes, so he enlisted my help, and we began the dispute process. Luckily, school districts keep this out of the public eye. There are no court records, no one is reporting on it, and there’s nowhere someone can simply look it up. So, when we entered this dispute process, there were two key — practical — things I used to help us. The first was figuring out what the other side wanted. The second was putting together a strong enough position that the other side perceived a real risk of losing. In Elliot’s case, we found that the school district never wanted to do business with him again. And while Elliot was sorry to see job opportunities go, he could live with that. So, with Elliot’s acceptance, we gathered as much legal verbiage and evidence as possible establishing that if the school district continued forward with their “not responsible bidder” designation, they were railroading Elliot and specifically targeting his business, and we were ready to go to court to prove it. The school district relented in the end, and Elliot and the school district signed an agreement stating the district would never, for all time, find him to be a “not responsible bidder” so long as he never bid for their work again. Both sides got what they wanted. Some attorneys will spend long and drawn-out meetings trying to reach some subpar agreement while costing their clients an arm and a leg to do so. A seasoned attorney knows
The project got sorted out and reached an eventual resolution. However, the next time Elliot went to bid for work with this school district, they immediately denied his bid and told him they wouldn’t accept it as they found him to be a “not responsible
many simpler — and more practical — ways to answer questions. If you’re looking for an attorney to do just that for your case, I encourage you to call us. I’d be happy to help you.
bidder.” Of course, Elliot could have just moved on to the next project, but the problem is that he would have had to report to every school district
-Jeremy Wyatt
jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com | HarrisonLawGroup.com | 1
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SMALL BUSINESS, BIG IMPACT: Your Resource for Digital Marketing Success
Whether or not you’re a fan of how prevalent the internet is becoming in our everyday lives, an online presence of some sort is required if you want to increase people’s awareness of your company. In fact, 86% of businesses report having increased their brand awareness by using digital marketing, and 75% say doing so also boosted their brand’s credibility with their audience. But when you own a small business, learning about digital marketing and how to use it can be a daunting task. Besides, you probably don’t have time to earn a marketing degree or the resources to hire a full-time digital marketing employee. So, what can you do? Luckily, you can learn the fundamentals of digital marketing to boost your business’s online presence, engagement, and sales by using these three FREE resources! They are quick, effective, easy to understand, and designed for busy business owners like you. Resource No. 1: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google Digital Garage If you’re starting your digital marketing journey from scratch, this short course is the place to begin. First and foremost, the course is self-paced, so you never need to worry about deadlines or sacrifice other responsibilities to complete it. This course contains 26 modules that cover several different aspects of digital marketing, including how to use analytics and plan your online business strategy, and takes a deep dive into social media. It also features videos for more visual learners, and after completing the 40-question exam at the end of the class, you’ll receive an officially recognized digital marketing certificate from Google. We highly recommend this course for any business owner who has a small to nonexistent online presence and wants to lay the groundwork that all digital marketing principles build upon. Enrolling is as easy as clicking a button, and you can find the course by Googling “Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google Digital Garage.” Resource No. 2: Digital Marketing Training by Neil Patel Suppose you already have a vague idea of the basics of digital marketing, or you just finished the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course by Google Digital Garage and
want to learn more about one part of digital marketing in particular. In that case, you’ll want to check out Neil Patel’s library of free digital marketing courses you can sort by topic. If you haven’t heard of Neil Patel, you should know he’s one of the leading voices in digital marketing today. He’s wildly successful and offers to teach others what he’s learned over the years for free. You can learn more about SEO, conversion optimization, YouTube, and more using his courses and the worksheets he provides. To access Neil’s library, visit NeilPatel.com/training and use the “What do you want to learn?” table of contents on the left of the page to choose what you’d like to learn about. Then, click the subject tile on the right and get started! Resource No. 3: Answer the Public This resource is not a course but a tool to help you create content your demographic will find useful. One of a business’s biggest struggles when growing an online presence is creating content that results in profitable engagement. Yes, posting often is important, but posting what actually matters to people is also vital. And the best way to find out what matters to people is to ask them! That’s essentially what Answer the Public does FOR you. It pulls the most popular internet searches regarding any topic you type into the site, so you can see what people want to know about in your niche. For example, if you own a rug cleaning business, you can go to AnswerThePublic. com and type “rug cleaning” into the search bar. Then, you will see that some of the most frequent searches are things like “What carpet cleaning solution is best?” “When carpet cleaning, how long does it take to dry?” and “Can carpet cleaning cause mold?” These are all GREAT questions a carpet cleaning company can address in its digital marketing content, and the answers provide timely and valuable information to its audience and build trust with current and potential future customers. You don’t need a digital marketing degree or even a marketing department to bring your brand into the online space. Using these three digital marketing tools will help you carve out an online space and make profitable content that will allow your company to thrive on and off the web!
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According to Medium, Huang “never finished his business plan” and “learned how to start a company by reading books and meeting lawyers.” Given that, it seems unlikely that traditional business acumen was the secret to Nvidia’s success — so, what was? The Secret Behind Nvidia’s Wild Success Dozens of factors no doubt contributed to Nvidia’s success, but three stand out above the rest: • Aggressive Innovation: Nvidia’s founders were all engineers with practical, hands-on knowledge. They used this knowledge to stay on the cutting edge of their industry and consistently develop new technologies. In 1999, Nvidia invented the graphics processing unit (GPU), and in 2012, it became an early pioneer of AI when it powered the AlexNet neural network. • Bold Pivots: Nvidia’s team kept a close eye on developing trends and areas for exploration in technology and adjusted its offerings to meet them. Though Nvidia began as a graphics chip company, it now offers networking tools, gaming laptops, embedded systems, cloud and data center technology, and more. Most notably, Nvidia dove headfirst into AI, working on everything from self-driving cars to
generative AI models like ChatGPT. Today, Nvidia GPUs power about 80% of all generative AIs, so it’s no wonder the company grew 200% from 2022 to 2023 as demand for AI surged. • Sharp Client Focus: When personal computers were trending in the 1990s, Nvidia pioneered GPUs to make them more functional. Since then, the company research and development team has consistently worked to fill needs in hot markets like PC gaming and AI. Nvidia likely has detailed customer avatars of its tech-savvy clients and finds success by identifying their pain points and innovating in those areas. Whether you run a tech company, law office, or medical clinic, you can use these three strategies to increase
your revenue and grow your business. You may not reach the $1 Trillion Valuation Club (it’s very exclusive, after all!), but you could still see the kind of growth that put
Nvidia on every stock broker’s map this year.
HAVE A Laugh
FROM MIRACLE CURE TO CONDIMENT The Unbelievable History of Ketchup
We know ketchup as a delicious condiment, but its origin is likely different than you’d expect. Ketchup’s roots started in Asia, where it was called ke-tsiap (Xiamen), a sauce made from fermented fish sauce. It came to Europe in the 17th century but looked and tasted different from the ketchup we know today, as it included ingredients like mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters — no tomatoes. In the 1830s, an Ohio physician named Dr. John Cook Bennett began marketing a tomato-based concoction as a medicinal elixir. Dr. Bennett claimed his tomato extract had incredible healing properties and promoted it as a cure for many ailments, including diarrhea, indigestion, jaundice, and rheumatism. His tomato preparation was a precursor to modern ketchup. Over time, the medicinal claims surrounding tomato-based ketchup faded, but people continued to enjoy the taste. Now, you can’t walk into a restaurant without seeing a ketchup bottle on every table!
jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com | HarrisonLawGroup.com | 3
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Jeremy Wyatt jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000
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Inside This Edition
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Efficiency in Resolution: Practical Solutions Saved Our Client’s Reputation
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Your Essential Digital Marketing Resource Guide for Small Businesses How Ketchup Transformed From Cure to Condiment Business Lessons From Nvidia’s Rise to $1 Trillion
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Since the latter part of 2022, interest in AI chatbots like ChatGPT has exploded worldwide. Over 100 million people used ChatGPT to plan vacations, write emails, and outline speeches. This was bad news for copywriters but fantastic news for a technology company many people have never heard of: Nvidia. Between October 2022 and May 2023, Nvidia’s market valuation spiked 200%. Then, in May, the company hit a significant milestone: It reached a total worth of $1 trillion, placing it in the exclusive “$1 Trillion Valuation Club.” That club has just four other members: Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. All four companies are household names — so how did Nvidia make the list and experience such massive, rapid growth? The Founding of Nvidia The story starts back in 1993. That year, electrical engineers Jensen Huang, Curtis Priem, and Chris Malachowsky decided to go into business together. They brainstormed the idea for Nvidia — which initially made graphics chips for personal computers, pushing the limits of 3D graphics — in a Fremont, California, townhouse. After six months of meeting with venture capitalists, the friends finally found investors. Thrilled with their good fortune, they pooled $800 to incorporate Nvidia. Each founder purchased 20% of the company for $200; the other $200 went IT’S BIGGER THAN NETFLIX AND FACEBOOK COMBINED: Learn How Nvidia Grew 200% in One Year!
toward hiring a lawyer. One day, they predicted, their $800 company would be part of a chip market worth $200 billion. Of the three founders, the most notable is Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s president and CEO. Huang was born in Taiwan but moved to the U.S. at age 9. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and a master’s from Stanford University (both in electrical engineering), then went on to work at LSI Logic and Advanced Micro Devices.
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