Monday, May 7, 2012
5 Easy Steps to Becoming a Millionaire
Who wouldn't want to be worth a million dollars? Many of us dream of achieving this goal, more often than not for the sake of the freedom financial stability would bring. So how can we get there? The answers are actually much easier than you might expect. Here are several easy steps to get you into the millionaires' club. (With a little discipline and the help of some powerful savings vehicles, anyone can hit this mark.)
1. Only Marry Once
According to "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D and William D. Danko, Ph.D, the average millionaire is married with three children. The wives of these millionaires are good budgeters and most often described as even more frugal than their husbands. Interestingly, according to Stanley and Danko's survey, half of these wives do no work outside the home and of those who do, they are most likely teachers.
One upside of only marrying once is avoiding the costs of divorce and of subsequent weddings. The cost of a divorce depends on many factors including income, attorney fees, court fees, and the assets a couple has and how they are divided. The average wedding cost in the United States in 2010, according to The Wedding Report.com, was $24,070.
2. Live Off One Income
One of the advantages of having a life partner is the potential to pull in two incomes. If you are able, consider structuring your set expenses based on only one income, and save what comes in from the other income. Doing so strengthens your financial position in two ways: In case of an emergency or if one partner loses their job, you will not only have less set expenses to cover, but you will also have built up your net worth as a safety measure.
3. Choose the Right Career
According to The Millionaire Next Door, "self-employed people make up less than 20% of the workers in America but account for two-thirds of the millionaires." The book goes on to list an average of 45 to 55 hours spent working per week, so by no means is this the self-employed fantasy of playing golf while your business grows.
The idea of the "right" career can encompass a myriad of factors. Ideally, this would be a career you enjoy, otherwise you likely won't be putting in the dedication required to be successful. The right career would also coincide with overall working trends, or at least not work directly against them. For example, starting a career in typewriter manufacturing may be something you are passionate about, but it would likely suffer due to the current technological trends.
4. Put Your Money in Appreciating Assets
According to Stanley and Danko, the millionaires in their survey invested nearly 20% of their realized household income each year. Nearly 20% of the household's wealth is held in "transaction securities such as publicly traded stocks and mutual funds" and the millionaires tended to rarely sell their equities. Only a very small number of the millionaires surveyed had ever leased a car; few even drove the current year model. Half of those surveyed had lived in their homes for more than 20 years, which, as the authors point out, means they have likely enjoyed "significant increases in the value of their homes."
The end result? These people put a financial priority on assets that will make them money, from their homes to their businesses.
5. Don't Live the Millionaire Lifestyle
Warren Buffett's frugal lifestyle (especially relative to his net worth) is the go-to example for this point. The average value of the surveyed millionaires' homes was $320,000. The bottom line is, those who spend their money on non-appreciating assets cannot put that same money in an asset that will net them a return and increase their wealth. If it is important to you to build your financial worth, stop spending it on new cars, toys and clothes. (The Oracle of Omaha has a net worth in the billions, but his lifestyle is not as rich as you may think.)
The Bottom Line
Becoming a millionaire is easier than ever. While this is a dream that will take work and discipline to achieve, it isn't as far out of reach as you might think. Be smart with your money and before you know it, you'll be able to count yourself among the world's wealthier citizens.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Why Work For Yourself?
Entrepreneurs realize the benefits of having your own business. Many seek the luxury of making their own schedule, some for financial or tax benefits, but the most common reason many opt for self-employment is to simply acquire a "piece of mind". In today's society we all want to be "happy" and it seems that we continuously seek contentment through our careers, personal lives, and/or through spirituality in order to find it. A recent survey showed that 4 out of every 7 people would like to start their own business; the sad part was that only 1 out of 7 actually will. But we don't need statistics this to show this, how many people do you know wish they were doing something different with their lives? And how many of them are actually taking the steps necessary to change their lives? The fact of the matter is that most people lack the patience and commitment necessary to actually "build" a business. Fear of failure and lack of direction often lead to procrastination and doubt, the end result being a mind full of ideas going absolutely nowhere. Now the purpose of this article is not to offend or patronize, but to hopefully motivate those that are looking to change their direction, but feel as if it's hopeless. If it's fear of failure that's causing you to hang on the sideline just keep in mind that the only way you can fail is if you try first, not the other way around.
If its direction that you need try finding a successful person within the industry and picking their brain. I'm a strong advocate for mentorship as I've found that many successful people are more than willing to share the details of their success with others who seek the same. They offer an excellent source for guidance, preparation for drawbacks in the industry, as well as useful tips and resources to help get your business up and running-and out of the closet. For example try contacting Kasamba.com, there they have a panel of experts who answer questions and offer financial resources in relation to every industry from business and finance to health and education. It's often said that the best way to become successful is by duplicating the work habits of the successful, which I believe to be true. You can even contact the U.S Small Business Association. A for financial resources if money is the issue. The point I'm trying to make is don't just jump out on there without adequate preparation or knowledge, this is the reason why most businesses flop within the first 5 years. In other words, find out how strong the tree is before stepping out on the limb. See you at the top!!
If its direction that you need try finding a successful person within the industry and picking their brain. I'm a strong advocate for mentorship as I've found that many successful people are more than willing to share the details of their success with others who seek the same. They offer an excellent source for guidance, preparation for drawbacks in the industry, as well as useful tips and resources to help get your business up and running-and out of the closet. For example try contacting Kasamba.com, there they have a panel of experts who answer questions and offer financial resources in relation to every industry from business and finance to health and education. It's often said that the best way to become successful is by duplicating the work habits of the successful, which I believe to be true. You can even contact the U.S Small Business Association. A for financial resources if money is the issue. The point I'm trying to make is don't just jump out on there without adequate preparation or knowledge, this is the reason why most businesses flop within the first 5 years. In other words, find out how strong the tree is before stepping out on the limb. See you at the top!!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Work At Home At Minimal Cost
Today we find more and more people from all walks of life looking to increase their income and create more free time to do other things. Without a doubt they are turning to the Internet in waves. Why? Well, it's because the Internet levels the playing field for everyone. No matter what walk of life you come from you have the same chance to be successful on the Internet. It does not care and it has unlimited earnings potential. It allows all of us the ability to access millions of people on a daily basis.
The Work At Home arena has become very popular and mom and dads everywhere are signing up to this massive cash cow. The costs to join most of the programs are minimal. In fact you can get your work at home job up and running the same day in most cases for less than the cost of going out to dinner for the evening.
The fastest way to generate income on the Internet is to join one of the low cost programs that offer step-by-step guidance, access to online jobs and the support to help you succeed.
There are many people who either cannot afford to spend anything or are afraid of taking the chance. Are they left out? Remember I mentioned earlier that the Internet allows access to anyone. Well there are also many free to join programs, whereby you can start working online for free. It will take you a bit more time to generate cash, but it can be done and people are doing it everyday. If you have no money then what do you have to loose? Give yourself a chance.
Whether you are joining a paid program, whereby you can get started immediately or you join one of the other programs there are a few things to keep in mind. You need to ensure that you do your research. Wherever there is money involved you will find the scam artist. You need to either research programs yourself or use a website like mine, but not necessarily mine, that has done research for you.
Don't just join the first program you see that pays the most money. If it seems to good to be true it probably is. It is very important that you find a program that meets your skill sets, income goals and comfort level. You can join the best program in the world, but if you don't do any work from home, because your not comfortable with what you have to do or do not have the necessary skill sets you will not make any money. You will end up being very unhappy and it may be the choices you made and not the program itself.
The opportunities are there for you. What do you need to do next? You need to research programs that meet the above objectives, narrow the choices to 2-3 join and get started. The cost for joining paid programs is probably less than going out to dinner with a friend for the evening.
The reason I say join 2-3 is because I have found that many people like taking this approach, because it gives them exposure to several programs. You can later focus on the ones you enjoy the most. Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.
Take the chance, do your research, join and get started today.
The Work At Home arena has become very popular and mom and dads everywhere are signing up to this massive cash cow. The costs to join most of the programs are minimal. In fact you can get your work at home job up and running the same day in most cases for less than the cost of going out to dinner for the evening.
The fastest way to generate income on the Internet is to join one of the low cost programs that offer step-by-step guidance, access to online jobs and the support to help you succeed.
There are many people who either cannot afford to spend anything or are afraid of taking the chance. Are they left out? Remember I mentioned earlier that the Internet allows access to anyone. Well there are also many free to join programs, whereby you can start working online for free. It will take you a bit more time to generate cash, but it can be done and people are doing it everyday. If you have no money then what do you have to loose? Give yourself a chance.
Whether you are joining a paid program, whereby you can get started immediately or you join one of the other programs there are a few things to keep in mind. You need to ensure that you do your research. Wherever there is money involved you will find the scam artist. You need to either research programs yourself or use a website like mine, but not necessarily mine, that has done research for you.
Don't just join the first program you see that pays the most money. If it seems to good to be true it probably is. It is very important that you find a program that meets your skill sets, income goals and comfort level. You can join the best program in the world, but if you don't do any work from home, because your not comfortable with what you have to do or do not have the necessary skill sets you will not make any money. You will end up being very unhappy and it may be the choices you made and not the program itself.
The opportunities are there for you. What do you need to do next? You need to research programs that meet the above objectives, narrow the choices to 2-3 join and get started. The cost for joining paid programs is probably less than going out to dinner with a friend for the evening.
The reason I say join 2-3 is because I have found that many people like taking this approach, because it gives them exposure to several programs. You can later focus on the ones you enjoy the most. Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.
Take the chance, do your research, join and get started today.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Abundance is a feeling
This question and answer interview was done by Kathy Smith, one of Michael's loyal Virtual Assistants. Visit her website.
Q: Michael, many times during your teleclasses and seminars, you say "abundance is a feeling." Can you elaborate on that statement - what do you mean it's a feeling?
First one of the important things that we've come to learn with the Law of Attraction is that we can duplicate feelings. In other words, just through the words I use I can stimulate somebody or discourage them. In short, we can create feelings within ourselves and within others by what we say and what we think.
Abundance is a feeling. Do you ever notice how excited you feel when you know you have a check coming or when you know you're getting an income tax refund? The excitement you're experiencing is the feeling of abundance. We feel abundant knowing that it's coming, even before we put it in the bank. So a question to ask is, "Do I feel abundant knowing that I'm receiving some money or do I feel abundant only when I put it in my bank account?" For most people, they feel abundant knowing that it's coming. It has nothing to do with whether that have it or not.
So because abundance is a feeling, and the Law of Attraction responds to feelings (vibrations), what if we were able to duplicate the vibration of abundance deliberately? (This is what's called Deliberate Attraction). We've come to understand that this powerful force called the Law of Attraction is constantly checking to find a vibration that we're sending and duplicates it by giving us more of the same. So what if when the Law of Attraction is checking at every moment, that in that moment, we are offering the vibration of abundance? Given the formula, the Law of Attraction would duplicate that vibration and bring us more of the same. That's why it's called the Law.
Q: How do you teach people to attract more abundance?
The Law of Attraction does not care why you are offering a vibration. In other words, it does not care whether you are remembering, pretending, complaining, creating, day-dreaming or observing your reality. It obediently duplicates that vibration. So ideally, we would find something that makes us feel abundant and include it more often in our daily vibration. There are a number of tools that people can use to duplicate the vibration of abundance. I'll give you one of them today.
Q: How do you record abundance in your own life?
On my fridge, I have 15 - 2 dollar winning lottery tickets. So I can clearly and truthfully say I won the lottery 15 times last month. I'm a winner. Look how many times I've won! It's worth 30 dollars to me in the bank and it's worth much more to me vibrationally.
You know when people buy those lottery scratch tickets? Most would celebrate the win for 21 seconds. So for 21 seconds, you are offering the vibration of abundance by saying things like, "Hey I just won 2 dollars! I love it when I win scractch tickets!" And after the short offering of abundance vibration, most people cash the ticket in again and again until they lose. And now they catch themselves saying, "I just wasted money on this lottery again. I only ever win 2 dollars. Easy come, easy go." Now they're in a place of offering a negative vibration.
So here's how to take advantage of the 2 dollar winning lottery ticket. Don't cash it. Keep it in your wallet. Put it on your fridge. And as you look at it each time, it will be a brief reminder that you won 2 dollars. Now you can tell yourself, I won the lottery! I won money this week! And now, for more than 21 seconds, you are offering the vibration of abundance over and over and over again. Your 2 dollar winning lottery ticket is worth more to you vibrationally than the 2 dollars.
Q: Michael, many times during your teleclasses and seminars, you say "abundance is a feeling." Can you elaborate on that statement - what do you mean it's a feeling?
First one of the important things that we've come to learn with the Law of Attraction is that we can duplicate feelings. In other words, just through the words I use I can stimulate somebody or discourage them. In short, we can create feelings within ourselves and within others by what we say and what we think.
Abundance is a feeling. Do you ever notice how excited you feel when you know you have a check coming or when you know you're getting an income tax refund? The excitement you're experiencing is the feeling of abundance. We feel abundant knowing that it's coming, even before we put it in the bank. So a question to ask is, "Do I feel abundant knowing that I'm receiving some money or do I feel abundant only when I put it in my bank account?" For most people, they feel abundant knowing that it's coming. It has nothing to do with whether that have it or not.
So because abundance is a feeling, and the Law of Attraction responds to feelings (vibrations), what if we were able to duplicate the vibration of abundance deliberately? (This is what's called Deliberate Attraction). We've come to understand that this powerful force called the Law of Attraction is constantly checking to find a vibration that we're sending and duplicates it by giving us more of the same. So what if when the Law of Attraction is checking at every moment, that in that moment, we are offering the vibration of abundance? Given the formula, the Law of Attraction would duplicate that vibration and bring us more of the same. That's why it's called the Law.
Q: How do you teach people to attract more abundance?
The Law of Attraction does not care why you are offering a vibration. In other words, it does not care whether you are remembering, pretending, complaining, creating, day-dreaming or observing your reality. It obediently duplicates that vibration. So ideally, we would find something that makes us feel abundant and include it more often in our daily vibration. There are a number of tools that people can use to duplicate the vibration of abundance. I'll give you one of them today.
Q: How do you record abundance in your own life?
On my fridge, I have 15 - 2 dollar winning lottery tickets. So I can clearly and truthfully say I won the lottery 15 times last month. I'm a winner. Look how many times I've won! It's worth 30 dollars to me in the bank and it's worth much more to me vibrationally.
You know when people buy those lottery scratch tickets? Most would celebrate the win for 21 seconds. So for 21 seconds, you are offering the vibration of abundance by saying things like, "Hey I just won 2 dollars! I love it when I win scractch tickets!" And after the short offering of abundance vibration, most people cash the ticket in again and again until they lose. And now they catch themselves saying, "I just wasted money on this lottery again. I only ever win 2 dollars. Easy come, easy go." Now they're in a place of offering a negative vibration.
So here's how to take advantage of the 2 dollar winning lottery ticket. Don't cash it. Keep it in your wallet. Put it on your fridge. And as you look at it each time, it will be a brief reminder that you won 2 dollars. Now you can tell yourself, I won the lottery! I won money this week! And now, for more than 21 seconds, you are offering the vibration of abundance over and over and over again. Your 2 dollar winning lottery ticket is worth more to you vibrationally than the 2 dollars.
Wholesale Distributor: How To Start A Wholesaling Business
Most people want to own a great money making business where other people will do all the work selling his or her products. He or she will just wait for the money to come in and the only thing he or she will do is distribute the goods that other people will sell.
However, not many people know how to start such a business. There are many opportunities like this that many people pass up because they don't understand how it works or think that it is very expensive.
This business is simply about you supplying goods to other people who will sell them. Wholesalers acts as intermediaries between manufacturers and retailers.
This is called wholesaling.
Wholesaling is a very profitable business, provided that you have a large dealer network behind you.
To start a wholesaling business you should first consider a few things to make your business work. Here are some of the things that you should consider before entering the world of wholesale business:
• Think of a product that most people use. One good product to sell is clothes. Clothes are always in demand. It is a great product to sell because it doesn't need much maintenance. Also, people always buy clothes. Another example would be coffee, coffee also doesn't need much maintenance and people always buy it. The key to choosing a product is that you pick one that is always in demand.
• When you are just new to this business it is wise that you should first find dealers that are near to you. This will save you a lot of money on shipping, and other problems such as complete supplier failure.
• Talk to someone you know that have entered wholesale business. He or she can give you pointers that can save you time and money and also know what mistakes they made to avoid making it yourself.
• When looking for a dealer or distributor, make sure that they have legal documents that permit them to resell your products. This can ensure your business's security
• You should also rent or buy a warehouse to store all your products. Choose a warehouse that is easily accessible and one that has labor saving approaches to material handling.
• You should establish a competitive credit policy. Most dealers cannot pay you the instant you deliver your products to them. You should offer favorable terms of payment and perhaps a higher credit limit. This offer can be attractive for dealers.
These are just some of the factors that you should consider before starting your wholesale business. There are also strategies that you should apply in order to have a competitive edge against your competitors.
Here are some of the strategies that you should consider:
• Improve all aspects of wholesaling activity. In time, when your business grows you should improve the four major areas of wholesaling, these are; purchasing, warehouse operation sales, and management. In short, in order to improve your wholesale operation you should buy better, sell better and improve operations.
• Buy products in large quantities and repack them in smaller package. This strategy can add convenience and efficiency of your distribution to dealers.
• Always keep in contact with your dealers personally. This strategy will enable you to keep your dealers from abandoning you and find another wholesaler. This is because people like to talk to the boss himself when they have a problem. Do not just leave them voice mails in order to contact you. Visit them from time to time to know how their business is going.
Remember, wholesaling can give you a lot of profit, but it can also mean hard work and dedication to be successful!
However, not many people know how to start such a business. There are many opportunities like this that many people pass up because they don't understand how it works or think that it is very expensive.
This business is simply about you supplying goods to other people who will sell them. Wholesalers acts as intermediaries between manufacturers and retailers.
This is called wholesaling.
Wholesaling is a very profitable business, provided that you have a large dealer network behind you.
To start a wholesaling business you should first consider a few things to make your business work. Here are some of the things that you should consider before entering the world of wholesale business:
• Think of a product that most people use. One good product to sell is clothes. Clothes are always in demand. It is a great product to sell because it doesn't need much maintenance. Also, people always buy clothes. Another example would be coffee, coffee also doesn't need much maintenance and people always buy it. The key to choosing a product is that you pick one that is always in demand.
• When you are just new to this business it is wise that you should first find dealers that are near to you. This will save you a lot of money on shipping, and other problems such as complete supplier failure.
• Talk to someone you know that have entered wholesale business. He or she can give you pointers that can save you time and money and also know what mistakes they made to avoid making it yourself.
• When looking for a dealer or distributor, make sure that they have legal documents that permit them to resell your products. This can ensure your business's security
• You should also rent or buy a warehouse to store all your products. Choose a warehouse that is easily accessible and one that has labor saving approaches to material handling.
• You should establish a competitive credit policy. Most dealers cannot pay you the instant you deliver your products to them. You should offer favorable terms of payment and perhaps a higher credit limit. This offer can be attractive for dealers.
These are just some of the factors that you should consider before starting your wholesale business. There are also strategies that you should apply in order to have a competitive edge against your competitors.
Here are some of the strategies that you should consider:
• Improve all aspects of wholesaling activity. In time, when your business grows you should improve the four major areas of wholesaling, these are; purchasing, warehouse operation sales, and management. In short, in order to improve your wholesale operation you should buy better, sell better and improve operations.
• Buy products in large quantities and repack them in smaller package. This strategy can add convenience and efficiency of your distribution to dealers.
• Always keep in contact with your dealers personally. This strategy will enable you to keep your dealers from abandoning you and find another wholesaler. This is because people like to talk to the boss himself when they have a problem. Do not just leave them voice mails in order to contact you. Visit them from time to time to know how their business is going.
Remember, wholesaling can give you a lot of profit, but it can also mean hard work and dedication to be successful!
Monday, February 6, 2012
"11 Great Reasons why Smiling makes us More Successful!"
First: Our smile shows others people that we are friendly.
If a stranger approached you and gained eye contact with you and then treated you to a broad smile you will have a fairly good idea that they are being friendly and certainly mean you no harm.
By contrast we would find it far more difficult to offer trust to the stranger that wears a scowl or unfriendly face features.
Second: A smile can make people happy.
When someone treats you to a smile, even a stranger, you usually smile back. For that moment you enjoy a flash of positive communication without saying a word. As you walk through a crowed area such as a main street you can do this hundreds times in a very short period of time.
When you smile at someone who is not already smiling and they smile back you have brought a moment of happiness into their lives which, who knows, could last all day.
Third: Smiling is infectious.
When you spend a lot in the company of someone who smiles a lot you will soon discover that their smile starts to wear off on you. It is hard not to return a smile; most of us do it at a subliminal level without thinking.
Fourth: Smiling can make you popular.
Which type of people do you prefer? A person that has a tired and listless face. An expression that may reflect their inner thoughts of boredom and worry? Or, would you prefer someone who is always smiling and shows that they have an enthusiastic passion for life.
I think for the majority of us the choice would be obvious!
Fifth: Smiling can help you to make new friends
In the same way few of us would choice a miserable person for a friend. Lets face it we all want someone who is going to be bubbly and a happy and positive.
Sixth: A smile is usually returned
When someone smiles back at you it make you feel good inside. You have just made a short but very positive communication and possibly the first step in the process of getting to know or making friends with someone new.
Seventh: Smiling makes you positive and happy inside.
When you smile it is hard to feel unhappy, negative or sad in anyway. Smiling gives you enthusiasm and drive, it is also habit forming.
Eight: A smile makes you look far more attractive.
You don't see many celebrities or media personalities that are not smiling because if you did it is fairly certain that their popularity would quickly start to drop!
Ninth: Smiling also helps make you memorable to others!
Have you noticed that smiling people are usually far more memorable than those that are not? It is fact that you are 3 time more likely to remember the person that is smiling over the one that is wearing a negative or neutral features.
Tenth: Most importantly, smiling is good for your health!!!
When you are smiling you find whatever you are doing far easier. It releases stress, worry and tension that you may have built up throughout the day. Long term, developing the smiling habit will be one of the smartest things that you can do to improve most aspects of your life.
Eleventh: The effects of smiling can last for hours
Whatever problems and challenges you have in your life, smiling temporary puts them and hold. For a while you forget the problems and become positive, and while you are in a positive state you have far more potential and power to advance and improve your life.
Lastly: Smiling is FREE!
You are never going to run short of smiles and will always have enough to go around. When you weigh up the positive points of smiling it is a no brainer decision to do far more smiling and share them with as many people as possible.
Keep smiling.
If a stranger approached you and gained eye contact with you and then treated you to a broad smile you will have a fairly good idea that they are being friendly and certainly mean you no harm.
By contrast we would find it far more difficult to offer trust to the stranger that wears a scowl or unfriendly face features.
Second: A smile can make people happy.
When someone treats you to a smile, even a stranger, you usually smile back. For that moment you enjoy a flash of positive communication without saying a word. As you walk through a crowed area such as a main street you can do this hundreds times in a very short period of time.
When you smile at someone who is not already smiling and they smile back you have brought a moment of happiness into their lives which, who knows, could last all day.
Third: Smiling is infectious.
When you spend a lot in the company of someone who smiles a lot you will soon discover that their smile starts to wear off on you. It is hard not to return a smile; most of us do it at a subliminal level without thinking.
Fourth: Smiling can make you popular.
Which type of people do you prefer? A person that has a tired and listless face. An expression that may reflect their inner thoughts of boredom and worry? Or, would you prefer someone who is always smiling and shows that they have an enthusiastic passion for life.
I think for the majority of us the choice would be obvious!
Fifth: Smiling can help you to make new friends
In the same way few of us would choice a miserable person for a friend. Lets face it we all want someone who is going to be bubbly and a happy and positive.
Sixth: A smile is usually returned
When someone smiles back at you it make you feel good inside. You have just made a short but very positive communication and possibly the first step in the process of getting to know or making friends with someone new.
Seventh: Smiling makes you positive and happy inside.
When you smile it is hard to feel unhappy, negative or sad in anyway. Smiling gives you enthusiasm and drive, it is also habit forming.
Eight: A smile makes you look far more attractive.
You don't see many celebrities or media personalities that are not smiling because if you did it is fairly certain that their popularity would quickly start to drop!
Ninth: Smiling also helps make you memorable to others!
Have you noticed that smiling people are usually far more memorable than those that are not? It is fact that you are 3 time more likely to remember the person that is smiling over the one that is wearing a negative or neutral features.
Tenth: Most importantly, smiling is good for your health!!!
When you are smiling you find whatever you are doing far easier. It releases stress, worry and tension that you may have built up throughout the day. Long term, developing the smiling habit will be one of the smartest things that you can do to improve most aspects of your life.
Eleventh: The effects of smiling can last for hours
Whatever problems and challenges you have in your life, smiling temporary puts them and hold. For a while you forget the problems and become positive, and while you are in a positive state you have far more potential and power to advance and improve your life.
Lastly: Smiling is FREE!
You are never going to run short of smiles and will always have enough to go around. When you weigh up the positive points of smiling it is a no brainer decision to do far more smiling and share them with as many people as possible.
Keep smiling.
Friday, February 3, 2012
10 Effective Advertising Tips! 80 percent of All Advertising Is Wasted Due To This Common Mistake.
Writing a classified ad to sell your product isn't as hard as you might think, if you spend time researching effective copy writing strategies.
Here are a few to try NOW!
1. Never try to sell expensive items from a small classified ad.
Use the two step method. Request the reader visit your site
for free information or email an auto responder address
for more details where you will respond with longer
ad copy to effectively sell your product.
2. Study how other marketers write their sales copy. This is a no brainer. Simply study the ads in newsletters you are subscribed to.
Or surf to a few of the free classified ad sites and study the ads placed there. Don't copy their ads word for word but use them as an effective design to write your own adverts.
3. Advertise in the right Newsletter. That's right. This is basic stuff. Don't place your ad for cooking lessons in a Sports Trivia Newsletter. Or High Tech EBooks on Java-Scripting in a Romance
Writers Newsletter.
4. Target several appropriate publications. Subscribe to the
publications and study their classified ads for several editions
before placing your ads. Practice writing adverts following their
basic ad writing guidelines.
5. Advertise in more than one publication at a time. Why?
You want to pull in as many interested readers as possible in
order to make sales.
6. Change your ad copy if it's not working. If people read the same old
ad copy in the publication every month they will get bored and
probably ignore your copy. It's human nature to do this.
Freshen up your copy with new headlines, different lengths, new
wording, power words, appropriate humor, details, interesting facts,
testimonials.
7. Key your ads to find out which ones are working. Or simply have
several email addresses or auto responders and calculate which
email address receives the most response to your ads.
8. Keep records of everyone who responds to your ads. Follow up
with appropriate messages about your product. Of course give
them the option to opt out of receiving further correspondence.
9. Free Classified Ad Sites are a great way to test your ad
writing skills before placing paid ads in publications online.
Study how other marketers at these sites write their ads.
Respond to their ads to see how they further market their
product. Don't forget to set up a free email account
especially to handle your request.
10. Study offline publications. And, advertisements you receive
by snail-mail to see how they put it all together. This will <
help to build your ad writing skills and confidence in your copy writing abilities.
80% of All Advertising Is Wasted Due To This Common Mistake
You're flipping through this publication as you wait for your latte, when suddenly you decide to stop and read an ad. What made you stop? I'll bet it was an attention grabbing headline.
It is a scientifically proven fact that 5 times as many people read headlines as read the body copy of an ad. So with the headline, an advertiser has spent about 80% of their advertising dollar. It doesn't take a genius to realize then the headline is the most important part of any ad.
Yet, most small business advertising is wasted for lack of an effective headline or, worse yet, no headline at all. Don't make this same mistake.
The headline is the first thing that your reader or prospect sees when they open your letter, browse a magazine, or flip your postcard. In that moment, (about 3 seconds) your reader decides whether or not to read any farther.
So first and foremost, any advertisement you produce must have a headline and your headline must grab your reader's attention immediately. If you don't grab them by the throat and hold them right away, you never will.
Writing powerful headlines takes some hard work but it can be done if you follow some simple guidelines.
1. Your headline should give the reader a reason to stop and read now instead of later – a carefully chosen word or two can create urgency
2. Your headline should communicate something the reader considers valuable – they need to be able to justify the time spent reader your ad
3. Your headline should scream how you might offer something that is unique or at least interesting
4. Your headline should point to something very specific for the reader – use facts and how to's
Using these points as a guide to create your headlines allows you to create headlines that hook your reader quickly, offers them a benefit they want, and gives them a reason to read on.
Never use boring, conventional or overused statements and never use a headline to trick your reader into looking on.
Attention Getting Power Words for Your Headlines
Look at powerful headlines and you will see that many contain one or more of the following words that sell.
Discover Easy Free New Proven Save Results Introducing
At Last Guarantee Bargain Easy Quick Sale Why How To
Just Arrived Now Announcing
Start of by writing some headlines that clearly communicate your promise, benefit or USP. Then look for ways to make them even more powerful by adding a power word or two and checking if they contain at least 3 of the guidelines provided above.
Here are a few to try NOW!
1. Never try to sell expensive items from a small classified ad.
Use the two step method. Request the reader visit your site
for free information or email an auto responder address
for more details where you will respond with longer
ad copy to effectively sell your product.
2. Study how other marketers write their sales copy. This is a no brainer. Simply study the ads in newsletters you are subscribed to.
Or surf to a few of the free classified ad sites and study the ads placed there. Don't copy their ads word for word but use them as an effective design to write your own adverts.
3. Advertise in the right Newsletter. That's right. This is basic stuff. Don't place your ad for cooking lessons in a Sports Trivia Newsletter. Or High Tech EBooks on Java-Scripting in a Romance
Writers Newsletter.
4. Target several appropriate publications. Subscribe to the
publications and study their classified ads for several editions
before placing your ads. Practice writing adverts following their
basic ad writing guidelines.
5. Advertise in more than one publication at a time. Why?
You want to pull in as many interested readers as possible in
order to make sales.
6. Change your ad copy if it's not working. If people read the same old
ad copy in the publication every month they will get bored and
probably ignore your copy. It's human nature to do this.
Freshen up your copy with new headlines, different lengths, new
wording, power words, appropriate humor, details, interesting facts,
testimonials.
7. Key your ads to find out which ones are working. Or simply have
several email addresses or auto responders and calculate which
email address receives the most response to your ads.
8. Keep records of everyone who responds to your ads. Follow up
with appropriate messages about your product. Of course give
them the option to opt out of receiving further correspondence.
9. Free Classified Ad Sites are a great way to test your ad
writing skills before placing paid ads in publications online.
Study how other marketers at these sites write their ads.
Respond to their ads to see how they further market their
product. Don't forget to set up a free email account
especially to handle your request.
10. Study offline publications. And, advertisements you receive
by snail-mail to see how they put it all together. This will <
help to build your ad writing skills and confidence in your copy writing abilities.
80% of All Advertising Is Wasted Due To This Common Mistake
You're flipping through this publication as you wait for your latte, when suddenly you decide to stop and read an ad. What made you stop? I'll bet it was an attention grabbing headline.
It is a scientifically proven fact that 5 times as many people read headlines as read the body copy of an ad. So with the headline, an advertiser has spent about 80% of their advertising dollar. It doesn't take a genius to realize then the headline is the most important part of any ad.
Yet, most small business advertising is wasted for lack of an effective headline or, worse yet, no headline at all. Don't make this same mistake.
The headline is the first thing that your reader or prospect sees when they open your letter, browse a magazine, or flip your postcard. In that moment, (about 3 seconds) your reader decides whether or not to read any farther.
So first and foremost, any advertisement you produce must have a headline and your headline must grab your reader's attention immediately. If you don't grab them by the throat and hold them right away, you never will.
Writing powerful headlines takes some hard work but it can be done if you follow some simple guidelines.
1. Your headline should give the reader a reason to stop and read now instead of later – a carefully chosen word or two can create urgency
2. Your headline should communicate something the reader considers valuable – they need to be able to justify the time spent reader your ad
3. Your headline should scream how you might offer something that is unique or at least interesting
4. Your headline should point to something very specific for the reader – use facts and how to's
Using these points as a guide to create your headlines allows you to create headlines that hook your reader quickly, offers them a benefit they want, and gives them a reason to read on.
Never use boring, conventional or overused statements and never use a headline to trick your reader into looking on.
Attention Getting Power Words for Your Headlines
Look at powerful headlines and you will see that many contain one or more of the following words that sell.
Discover Easy Free New Proven Save Results Introducing
At Last Guarantee Bargain Easy Quick Sale Why How To
Just Arrived Now Announcing
Start of by writing some headlines that clearly communicate your promise, benefit or USP. Then look for ways to make them even more powerful by adding a power word or two and checking if they contain at least 3 of the guidelines provided above.
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
Small Business Success
Small business is again in transition. Many employees, now working from home, are no longer tied to a geographic office and the woes of commuting. This is a relatively new phenomenon with hints of explosive sector growth in the days ahead. As this turbulent economy has forced downsizing, offshore restructuring and closures in large companies, many new entrepreneurs have been born. These are people, who instead of tirelessly attempting to find new employment and possibly enduring the same fate as previously experienced, are now starting small businesses and enjoying the benefits and perils of self-employment.
There's an old story telling of an Admiral's decision to fight a battle against overwhelming odds. It seems that he was approaching the coast of an enemy land, with a larger naval force closing in from behind and a great army approaching from the land ahead. He prayed and then addressed his men. He announced that their battle weary forces would land on the beach ahead, dig in and prepare for the upcoming battle. There was no turning back and no other alternative. He ordered their ships burned after they landed. Their only choice was to fight to win or perish. They defeated their enemy because he eliminated any other escape route. They were fixed on the goal of survival and none other.
That is the same attitude we as entrepreneurs must take. We can not afford to be denied. We must grow and prosper or our business will surely perish. We must constantly be looking for ways to cost-effectively market our business and increase sales. We must control costs and have sufficient cash flow for daily operations. Each of us must be persistent, relentless and vigilant. As CEO, we are the manufacturer, the sales team, the marketing department, legal office, accounting office, human resources manager, IT manager, the webmaster and so on. We can't afford to be all these positions. Our job is to sell! We must locate cost effective resources to help us grow and protect our investment in our business.
The growth of the internet has changed our marketplace as well. Years ago, a small business owner decided upon a geographic chunk of the market and set up shop. Today, that shop is typically located in an office at the entrepreneur's home. The marketplace is now the world. The costs of marketing products and communicating worldwide are so low that almost anyone can take part in this revolution. Sophisticated voice mail, cell phones, email and effective ecommerce web sites now provide the illusion of size and grandeur for even the smallest home-based business. The end customer typically has no idea whether their supplier is local or across the world. He may be dressed in a shirt and tie or in his pajamas! All that typically matters is that the exchange of product and services is successfully made for a profit.
It is critically important for the small, home-based entrepreneur to be aware of resources available to her as she makes this great leap. Too many people leap prematurely into business only to fail because of poor planning and insufficient financial resources. Do not get caught in this trap. Don't quit your day job until you have enough cash on hand to pay the bills for at least a year into your new venture. Become aware of and develop the resources available to you. You want everything possible going for you as you make this leap of faith into the entrepreneurial world.
There are incredible resources, partially funded by the State and private resources, available at little to no cost to entrepreneurs, with the purpose of aiding the successful growth of small business. Some additional national resources are:
http://www.national business.org
http://www.nase.org
http://www.gosmallbiz.com
http://www.empoweringbiz.com
http://www.nfib.org
http://www.qualitybusinessdirectory.com
There are also numerous magazines devoted to small business, home-based business, marketing, sales, accounting, etc… Get tuned in to these and other resources available to you. Read your industry publications to stay abreast of competition and other facets of your business interests.
A single legal issue, FACTA problem, accounting error or marketing miscue can put you out of business. In the case of FACTA, insufficient security or poor record-keeping these days could find you legally responsible for a single employee's identity fraud issue, which may end up being very costly. A single lawsuit or vendor dispute can shut you down. Many entrepreneurs are ignorant, ill-prepared and under-schooled with regard to these and other issues. Do not get caught in the deadly ignorance trap.
There is more opportunity available today than ever before for the wise entrepreneur. Get all you ducks in a row before you make the fateful leap into the new world marketplace. Be smart, learn all you can as quickly as possible and take action on your ideas. Like the Admiral, be determined to win in the face of what may appear to be overwhelming adversity.
There's an old story telling of an Admiral's decision to fight a battle against overwhelming odds. It seems that he was approaching the coast of an enemy land, with a larger naval force closing in from behind and a great army approaching from the land ahead. He prayed and then addressed his men. He announced that their battle weary forces would land on the beach ahead, dig in and prepare for the upcoming battle. There was no turning back and no other alternative. He ordered their ships burned after they landed. Their only choice was to fight to win or perish. They defeated their enemy because he eliminated any other escape route. They were fixed on the goal of survival and none other.
That is the same attitude we as entrepreneurs must take. We can not afford to be denied. We must grow and prosper or our business will surely perish. We must constantly be looking for ways to cost-effectively market our business and increase sales. We must control costs and have sufficient cash flow for daily operations. Each of us must be persistent, relentless and vigilant. As CEO, we are the manufacturer, the sales team, the marketing department, legal office, accounting office, human resources manager, IT manager, the webmaster and so on. We can't afford to be all these positions. Our job is to sell! We must locate cost effective resources to help us grow and protect our investment in our business.
The growth of the internet has changed our marketplace as well. Years ago, a small business owner decided upon a geographic chunk of the market and set up shop. Today, that shop is typically located in an office at the entrepreneur's home. The marketplace is now the world. The costs of marketing products and communicating worldwide are so low that almost anyone can take part in this revolution. Sophisticated voice mail, cell phones, email and effective ecommerce web sites now provide the illusion of size and grandeur for even the smallest home-based business. The end customer typically has no idea whether their supplier is local or across the world. He may be dressed in a shirt and tie or in his pajamas! All that typically matters is that the exchange of product and services is successfully made for a profit.
It is critically important for the small, home-based entrepreneur to be aware of resources available to her as she makes this great leap. Too many people leap prematurely into business only to fail because of poor planning and insufficient financial resources. Do not get caught in this trap. Don't quit your day job until you have enough cash on hand to pay the bills for at least a year into your new venture. Become aware of and develop the resources available to you. You want everything possible going for you as you make this leap of faith into the entrepreneurial world.
There are incredible resources, partially funded by the State and private resources, available at little to no cost to entrepreneurs, with the purpose of aiding the successful growth of small business. Some additional national resources are:
http://www.national business.org
http://www.nase.org
http://www.gosmallbiz.com
http://www.empoweringbiz.com
http://www.nfib.org
http://www.qualitybusinessdirectory.com
There are also numerous magazines devoted to small business, home-based business, marketing, sales, accounting, etc… Get tuned in to these and other resources available to you. Read your industry publications to stay abreast of competition and other facets of your business interests.
A single legal issue, FACTA problem, accounting error or marketing miscue can put you out of business. In the case of FACTA, insufficient security or poor record-keeping these days could find you legally responsible for a single employee's identity fraud issue, which may end up being very costly. A single lawsuit or vendor dispute can shut you down. Many entrepreneurs are ignorant, ill-prepared and under-schooled with regard to these and other issues. Do not get caught in the deadly ignorance trap.
There is more opportunity available today than ever before for the wise entrepreneur. Get all you ducks in a row before you make the fateful leap into the new world marketplace. Be smart, learn all you can as quickly as possible and take action on your ideas. Like the Admiral, be determined to win in the face of what may appear to be overwhelming adversity.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Your Power Of REAL Concentration
Did you ever stop to think what an important part your thoughts, I mean real concentrated thoughts, play in your life?
The ability to concentrate all your attention is so important, no matter what task or job you have to get done… as nothing great or significant can be accomplished without proper effort and concentration.
And almost all of us have some sort of difficulty in the concentration of our attention.
Workers in business and industry, students in high school and college, and even professors in universities, complain of the same difficulty.
It is said that the power to concentrate all your attention is vital as it stands at the very centre of most (if not all) mental activity. No matter from what angle we view the mind, its excellence always seems to depend upon the power to concentrate all our attention.
Concentration may be defined as being that state of mind in which the entire energies of the individual, physical as well as mental, are focused upon the thing they are doing or thinking. All actions and all thoughts NOT connected with what they are doing or thinking are kept out of the mind…
If we examine a growing child, one of the first things we will see is the power they have in them to "pay attention or to notice things".
When we examine the ability of normal adults we do so by means of tests that require close concentration of attention, and we regard anyone who is able to maintain close focused and concentrated attention for long periods of time as a person of strong mind or will.
So real concentration may be broken down into just 2 parts:
1. The voluntary focusing of all our power and attention in the selecting of certain objects to be attended to.
2. And the ignoring of other objects which act as distractions.
But even in spite of our most careful provisions, there will still be distractions which cannot be eliminated. For example, you cannot stop the noise of planes flying over or cars driving past while you are trying to work, plan or study.
And you cannot build a fence around the thoughts and focus of your mind so as to keep out unwanted and irrelevant ideas… the best thing you can do is to accept the inevitable that the presence of some distractions will always exist, and to realise that in order to concentrate and pay attention properly, it is necessary to form the habit of ignoring these distractions.
You can simply start out by making a strong determined effort to ignore all distractions… practise ignoring them, and try your best not to let a slip occur.
Also at the same time, try to develop interest in the object you are concentrating all your attention on, because we tend to pay more attention to those things in which we are most interested.
It's easy for any one to say, "concentrate"… but you need to know exactly how to concentrate. Remember that to concentrate is merely the act of applying your entire body and mind, to the task or action in hand.
Every effort of the mind, whether it's to…
• Perceive something
• Recollect something
• Associate something
• Imagine something
• Even to judge something
Must all involve some concentration of the faculties of the mind upon that particular action, task or act, whatever it may be!
As you start to develop a firm interest in your field of work or study, and as you develop the habit of ignoring distractions - you will be able to concentrate your powers of attention with less and less effort.
Another important fact to note is that as you develop the power to select objects for the concentration of all your attention, you also develop (at the same time) other mind power processes − you will improve the ability to memorize and recall much more, to fine tune and manage better your time and effort.
And also the power to control your future thoughts and actions...
In short "developing your power to concentrate and focus all your attention means developing power in all the mental processes". With that being said, we want to finish by giving you,
The 2 TOP Keys Of Concentration
For every one of us, concentration will always mean,
1. Selecting and focusing on what is most important to us, and disregarding what is not… and also knowing which tasks and jobs have top priority.
2. You must identify for yourself what is most important and essential to you - and try to filter out everything else.
These are the two main steps towards developing strong concentration… recognising the essential… and leaving out the non-essential.
The ability to concentrate all your attention is so important, no matter what task or job you have to get done… as nothing great or significant can be accomplished without proper effort and concentration.
And almost all of us have some sort of difficulty in the concentration of our attention.
Workers in business and industry, students in high school and college, and even professors in universities, complain of the same difficulty.
It is said that the power to concentrate all your attention is vital as it stands at the very centre of most (if not all) mental activity. No matter from what angle we view the mind, its excellence always seems to depend upon the power to concentrate all our attention.
Concentration may be defined as being that state of mind in which the entire energies of the individual, physical as well as mental, are focused upon the thing they are doing or thinking. All actions and all thoughts NOT connected with what they are doing or thinking are kept out of the mind…
If we examine a growing child, one of the first things we will see is the power they have in them to "pay attention or to notice things".
When we examine the ability of normal adults we do so by means of tests that require close concentration of attention, and we regard anyone who is able to maintain close focused and concentrated attention for long periods of time as a person of strong mind or will.
So real concentration may be broken down into just 2 parts:
1. The voluntary focusing of all our power and attention in the selecting of certain objects to be attended to.
2. And the ignoring of other objects which act as distractions.
But even in spite of our most careful provisions, there will still be distractions which cannot be eliminated. For example, you cannot stop the noise of planes flying over or cars driving past while you are trying to work, plan or study.
And you cannot build a fence around the thoughts and focus of your mind so as to keep out unwanted and irrelevant ideas… the best thing you can do is to accept the inevitable that the presence of some distractions will always exist, and to realise that in order to concentrate and pay attention properly, it is necessary to form the habit of ignoring these distractions.
You can simply start out by making a strong determined effort to ignore all distractions… practise ignoring them, and try your best not to let a slip occur.
Also at the same time, try to develop interest in the object you are concentrating all your attention on, because we tend to pay more attention to those things in which we are most interested.
It's easy for any one to say, "concentrate"… but you need to know exactly how to concentrate. Remember that to concentrate is merely the act of applying your entire body and mind, to the task or action in hand.
Every effort of the mind, whether it's to…
• Perceive something
• Recollect something
• Associate something
• Imagine something
• Even to judge something
Must all involve some concentration of the faculties of the mind upon that particular action, task or act, whatever it may be!
As you start to develop a firm interest in your field of work or study, and as you develop the habit of ignoring distractions - you will be able to concentrate your powers of attention with less and less effort.
Another important fact to note is that as you develop the power to select objects for the concentration of all your attention, you also develop (at the same time) other mind power processes − you will improve the ability to memorize and recall much more, to fine tune and manage better your time and effort.
And also the power to control your future thoughts and actions...
In short "developing your power to concentrate and focus all your attention means developing power in all the mental processes". With that being said, we want to finish by giving you,
The 2 TOP Keys Of Concentration
For every one of us, concentration will always mean,
1. Selecting and focusing on what is most important to us, and disregarding what is not… and also knowing which tasks and jobs have top priority.
2. You must identify for yourself what is most important and essential to you - and try to filter out everything else.
These are the two main steps towards developing strong concentration… recognising the essential… and leaving out the non-essential.
Monday, January 23, 2012
How To Communicate Value Proposition And Return On Investment
As part of my continuing series on Value and Pricing, the following article shows you how to position your company's value contribution to support the highest value-for-value exchange.
Too many business owners, when asked about the value or ROI of their product or service, shrug their shoulders and say, "I can't really put a value on it." If you can't put a value on it, think how hard it is for your prospects and customers! And if they can't put a value on it, how likely is it for them to buy it?
We're going to give you a simple way to identify all the value elements of your product or service and articulate it in such a way that your customers will absolutely know in quantifiable terms what your value is to them. They will see so much ROI they'll be foolish not to want to buy from you.
The key idea here is that you communicate Return on Investment by looking at your value proposition through your customers' eyes. In other words, why should they spend their scarce money with you, versus using the funds in some other way?
Your customers want to know how long it will take them to get back their investment or make a profit. Many will want to see a recurring return.
There's an old marketing saying: "Make your product free". People will pay more when they think that "it doesn't cost them anything." You do this by building so much intrinsic value into your offering that it far exceeds the cost to the customer; do this correctly and in their perception, it's free.
Creating Value with Your Product or Service:
First, list all the ways that you create value for your customers.
Does your product or service...
--Help client's increase their revenues? Does your product/service increase their sales? Create more leads? Increase their competitiveness in their market? Shorten the sales cycle? Get more repeat and referral business?
--Allow them to raise prices, or at least hold prices level? Does the value you create allow your customer to charge higher prices for their offering?
--Reduce expenses? Does it reduce initial or ongoing cost? Does it reduce overhead such as utilities and rent or carrying charges? Does it save money on materials, equipment, staff, and outside services? Does it provide a more economical installation or a longer life span? Does it reduce error rate?
--Allow them to replace some existing expense at a lower cost?
--Enable staff headcount reductions? Does it allow your customer to make headcount reductions in staff or support personnel?
--Avoid impending or predicable expenses? Does it help avoid expenses altogether?
--Increase their products' and services' perceived value. Does it increase the perceived value of your customer's offering?
--Increase productivity? Does it increase your customer's productivity or the productivity of his staff? Does it increase manufacturing production or throughput?
--Give them greater control? Does it offer some way for your customer to track results, lead generation, sales, profitability, productivity, or any other key success factor?
Next, review the list and for each of the ways you create value, figure what each is worth. This could be in terms of absolute amounts of money, some percentage of revenues, or some percentage of expense reduction.
Create proof for each of your value assertions. Proof can be in the form of worksheets, testimonials, case studies, success stories, printed statements, even survey results.
Add up each of the value elements to come up with a total value, combining earnings and savings into one number. Again, the total value can be an absolute money number, such as $645,000, or it can be a percentage of sales.
Lastly, calculate your return on investment by comparing the total value to the cost of your product. You may come up with either an ROI (return on investment) or a "payback period." Either way, you've quantified your product's value in concrete terms, justified your price, and made it far, far easier for your prospects to make a buying decision.
Success Story
One of our clients sells enterprise software in the $150,000 to $250,000 zone. After 9/11, their sales cycle began to get longer and longer and stretched out as much as eighteen months, with most prospective deals ending in "no decision." Prospects knew they needed to replace their old software, but they simply couldn't justify the expense in a no-growth economic climate.
To accelerate the sales process we implemented a return on investment analysis using the exact steps described above.
First we itemized each of the ways the software saved or earned the client money, including replacing old software with a high maintenance cost, reducing the cost of computer leases, reducing materials waste, decreasing the number of customer service staff required, shortening their salesman's phone time, increasing the accuracy of sales quotes, thereby increasing the prospect's sales AND increasing overall sales profitability.
By assigning a dollar value to each value element, and offering proof for each one, our client was able to demonstrate a payback period of around 9 months, and a significant positive return on investment thereafter.
The first two prospects who heard this value presentation said the same thing: "We'd be fools not to buy this," resulting in the two shortest sales cycles, and coincidentally, the two largest individual sales in the company's history.
Too many business owners, when asked about the value or ROI of their product or service, shrug their shoulders and say, "I can't really put a value on it." If you can't put a value on it, think how hard it is for your prospects and customers! And if they can't put a value on it, how likely is it for them to buy it?
We're going to give you a simple way to identify all the value elements of your product or service and articulate it in such a way that your customers will absolutely know in quantifiable terms what your value is to them. They will see so much ROI they'll be foolish not to want to buy from you.
The key idea here is that you communicate Return on Investment by looking at your value proposition through your customers' eyes. In other words, why should they spend their scarce money with you, versus using the funds in some other way?
Your customers want to know how long it will take them to get back their investment or make a profit. Many will want to see a recurring return.
There's an old marketing saying: "Make your product free". People will pay more when they think that "it doesn't cost them anything." You do this by building so much intrinsic value into your offering that it far exceeds the cost to the customer; do this correctly and in their perception, it's free.
Creating Value with Your Product or Service:
First, list all the ways that you create value for your customers.
Does your product or service...
--Help client's increase their revenues? Does your product/service increase their sales? Create more leads? Increase their competitiveness in their market? Shorten the sales cycle? Get more repeat and referral business?
--Allow them to raise prices, or at least hold prices level? Does the value you create allow your customer to charge higher prices for their offering?
--Reduce expenses? Does it reduce initial or ongoing cost? Does it reduce overhead such as utilities and rent or carrying charges? Does it save money on materials, equipment, staff, and outside services? Does it provide a more economical installation or a longer life span? Does it reduce error rate?
--Allow them to replace some existing expense at a lower cost?
--Enable staff headcount reductions? Does it allow your customer to make headcount reductions in staff or support personnel?
--Avoid impending or predicable expenses? Does it help avoid expenses altogether?
--Increase their products' and services' perceived value. Does it increase the perceived value of your customer's offering?
--Increase productivity? Does it increase your customer's productivity or the productivity of his staff? Does it increase manufacturing production or throughput?
--Give them greater control? Does it offer some way for your customer to track results, lead generation, sales, profitability, productivity, or any other key success factor?
Next, review the list and for each of the ways you create value, figure what each is worth. This could be in terms of absolute amounts of money, some percentage of revenues, or some percentage of expense reduction.
Create proof for each of your value assertions. Proof can be in the form of worksheets, testimonials, case studies, success stories, printed statements, even survey results.
Add up each of the value elements to come up with a total value, combining earnings and savings into one number. Again, the total value can be an absolute money number, such as $645,000, or it can be a percentage of sales.
Lastly, calculate your return on investment by comparing the total value to the cost of your product. You may come up with either an ROI (return on investment) or a "payback period." Either way, you've quantified your product's value in concrete terms, justified your price, and made it far, far easier for your prospects to make a buying decision.
Success Story
One of our clients sells enterprise software in the $150,000 to $250,000 zone. After 9/11, their sales cycle began to get longer and longer and stretched out as much as eighteen months, with most prospective deals ending in "no decision." Prospects knew they needed to replace their old software, but they simply couldn't justify the expense in a no-growth economic climate.
To accelerate the sales process we implemented a return on investment analysis using the exact steps described above.
First we itemized each of the ways the software saved or earned the client money, including replacing old software with a high maintenance cost, reducing the cost of computer leases, reducing materials waste, decreasing the number of customer service staff required, shortening their salesman's phone time, increasing the accuracy of sales quotes, thereby increasing the prospect's sales AND increasing overall sales profitability.
By assigning a dollar value to each value element, and offering proof for each one, our client was able to demonstrate a payback period of around 9 months, and a significant positive return on investment thereafter.
The first two prospects who heard this value presentation said the same thing: "We'd be fools not to buy this," resulting in the two shortest sales cycles, and coincidentally, the two largest individual sales in the company's history.
Make Extra Money - Six Unusual Ways
I was young and wanted some way to make extra money - something other than another fast food job. A friend of the family owned a small insurance agency. The owner decided to get into the business of process serving, and I applied for the job. Tracking people down and handing them their court subpoenas sounded like fun.
It was more interesting than most of the jobs I have had. I had to find two defendants in a lawsuit stemming from a school football injury (they worked for the school). Both had moved to the area, leaving no forwarding address. After using my best phone pretexts to get information from the family, and doing a little investigating locally, I found them both working in the same place.
I walked up to each, asked their name and handed them the papers. They were served. The problem was that the company was billing by the hour, and I had found these two quickly, meaning little profit. They dropped the idea for the new service, and dropped my job along with it. So much for getting ahead by doing a good job.
I had a wide variety of unusual jobs and other ways to make extra money when I was younger. Sitting here reminiscing at the keyboard might be considered an unusual way to make money too, but hey, it works. Here are some of the other ways.
Make Extra Money By...
Stealing cars: At twenty-one I was willing to try almost anything to make extra money. My brother's towing business got a contract to repossess cars, and I became a "repo man." Prowling the night with my brother, looking for and legally "stealing" cars - this was fun. Don't expect to make too much money doing this though, unless you live in the right area. Oh, and it did involve getting chased, having a gun pulled on us, and other little adventures.<
Making walking sticks: I sold hundreds of my own handmade walking stick alongside our other items at flea markets. I added handgrips made from recycled leather jackets, so they cost about 50 cents to make. I sold them for anywhere between $6 to $26. You may also want to make a hobby into a way to make money, but there isn't too much money involved most of the time.
Financing other peoples plans. I put up the cash to buy cars for a couple friends. They knew cars, I had cash. A friend needed $3200 to buy and fix a corvette, for example, and two weeks later sold it for $4200, netting us $500 profit each. Letting your money do the work to make extra money - this is one of the best ways.
Rent rooms. At one point I had almost $10,000 per year coming in from renting the rooms in my home. I owed nothing on the home at this point, so this was a nice income. I had decent renters, and I had built a efficiency apartment on the back of the place for privacy for my wife and I. Easy ways like this are my favorite ways to make extra money.
It was more interesting than most of the jobs I have had. I had to find two defendants in a lawsuit stemming from a school football injury (they worked for the school). Both had moved to the area, leaving no forwarding address. After using my best phone pretexts to get information from the family, and doing a little investigating locally, I found them both working in the same place.
I walked up to each, asked their name and handed them the papers. They were served. The problem was that the company was billing by the hour, and I had found these two quickly, meaning little profit. They dropped the idea for the new service, and dropped my job along with it. So much for getting ahead by doing a good job.
I had a wide variety of unusual jobs and other ways to make extra money when I was younger. Sitting here reminiscing at the keyboard might be considered an unusual way to make money too, but hey, it works. Here are some of the other ways.
Make Extra Money By...
Stealing cars: At twenty-one I was willing to try almost anything to make extra money. My brother's towing business got a contract to repossess cars, and I became a "repo man." Prowling the night with my brother, looking for and legally "stealing" cars - this was fun. Don't expect to make too much money doing this though, unless you live in the right area. Oh, and it did involve getting chased, having a gun pulled on us, and other little adventures.<
Making walking sticks: I sold hundreds of my own handmade walking stick alongside our other items at flea markets. I added handgrips made from recycled leather jackets, so they cost about 50 cents to make. I sold them for anywhere between $6 to $26. You may also want to make a hobby into a way to make money, but there isn't too much money involved most of the time.
Financing other peoples plans. I put up the cash to buy cars for a couple friends. They knew cars, I had cash. A friend needed $3200 to buy and fix a corvette, for example, and two weeks later sold it for $4200, netting us $500 profit each. Letting your money do the work to make extra money - this is one of the best ways.
Rent rooms. At one point I had almost $10,000 per year coming in from renting the rooms in my home. I owed nothing on the home at this point, so this was a nice income. I had decent renters, and I had built a efficiency apartment on the back of the place for privacy for my wife and I. Easy ways like this are my favorite ways to make extra money.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Seniors: Use Direct Deposit To Protect Your Money And Identity
What if someone stole the monthly check you depend on? How would you survive?
Each month about 12 million Social Security and other federal benefit checks are mailed, many of them to senior citizens. Criminals know when these checks arrive in mailboxes. They also know that each month most seniors venture out to cash or deposit their checks.
But seniors can outsmart them.
"These days, it is imperative that seniors arm themselves with information and practical safeguards to keep their monthly income safe," said Al Lenhardt, president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council, a leader in senior fraud prevention.
What can seniors do to protect themselves against financial crimes? Often, it's as simple as signing up for direct deposit. During National Safety Month in June and throughout the year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Crime Prevention Council are urging people who receive Social Security and other federal benefits to sign up for direct deposit and avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, fraud or robbery.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, nearly 25 million Americans (11.2 percent of the adult population) experience consumer fraud each year. Criminals and con artists often develop scams that target seniors, making them a vulnerable population.
"One individual was getting his check stolen several times, sometimes by his own family," said Sgt. Vince Higgins, a public information officer with the Memphis Police Department who works closely with seniors. "Now that he's signed up for direct deposit, he's happy, he's confident-he's no longer worried about where his money is or who's got his money. It's safe in his bank account."
Sgt. Higgins and hundreds of other trusted sources like him are partners in Go Direct, a campaign sponsored by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Banks to motivate Americans who get Social Security and other federal benefits checks to switch to the safer, easier option of direct deposit.
Enrolling in direct deposit can offer much-needed peace of mind to seniors, people with disabilities and others who rely on Social Security. Direct deposit eliminates the risk of stolen checks and forgeries and helps protect people from identity theft. It also gives people more control over their money and allows immediate access to funds from virtually anywhere.
Each month about 12 million Social Security and other federal benefit checks are mailed, many of them to senior citizens. Criminals know when these checks arrive in mailboxes. They also know that each month most seniors venture out to cash or deposit their checks.
But seniors can outsmart them.
"These days, it is imperative that seniors arm themselves with information and practical safeguards to keep their monthly income safe," said Al Lenhardt, president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council, a leader in senior fraud prevention.
What can seniors do to protect themselves against financial crimes? Often, it's as simple as signing up for direct deposit. During National Safety Month in June and throughout the year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Crime Prevention Council are urging people who receive Social Security and other federal benefits to sign up for direct deposit and avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, fraud or robbery.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, nearly 25 million Americans (11.2 percent of the adult population) experience consumer fraud each year. Criminals and con artists often develop scams that target seniors, making them a vulnerable population.
"One individual was getting his check stolen several times, sometimes by his own family," said Sgt. Vince Higgins, a public information officer with the Memphis Police Department who works closely with seniors. "Now that he's signed up for direct deposit, he's happy, he's confident-he's no longer worried about where his money is or who's got his money. It's safe in his bank account."
Sgt. Higgins and hundreds of other trusted sources like him are partners in Go Direct, a campaign sponsored by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Banks to motivate Americans who get Social Security and other federal benefits checks to switch to the safer, easier option of direct deposit.
Enrolling in direct deposit can offer much-needed peace of mind to seniors, people with disabilities and others who rely on Social Security. Direct deposit eliminates the risk of stolen checks and forgeries and helps protect people from identity theft. It also gives people more control over their money and allows immediate access to funds from virtually anywhere.
How to choose the right structured settlement broker
A prospective seller of a structured settlement payment is better served utilizing the services of a structured settlement broker rather than approaching a buyer directly. The same is true for an individual who is about to come into a large sum of money via a structured settlement payment. This is because with a broker mediating a deal, it works out best for all the parties involved.
While selling a structured settlement, taking help from a broker is recommended as a broker maintains professional contacts with several underwriters and is thus in a position to offer the best deal to a seller. One should ensure that the broker is not working exclusively for a selected few underwriters as it may result in lower lump sum payments.
A seller can take help from an attorney who has had past dealings with structured settlement brokers and knows the right questions to ask. One should focus queries on the cost of the process and time involved.
The broker should be experienced enough to handle the intricacies of a structured settlement and variables affected by individual situations. This ability makes an experienced broker a valuable asset in ensuring that the settlement process takes place fast and efficiently. The brokers should also possess all the means of communication so that time is not lost and there is less paper clutter at the client's end.
A structured settlement broker can provide an indication of the costs and time involved in selling a structured settlement. The broker's inputs will be useful in deciding the right amount of payments to sell. Alternatively, when an individual is obtaining a structured settlement payment through an out-of-court settlement or lottery winnings, the broker analyses the best possible payment scenario for his client after understanding his concerns. This helps the beneficiary in availing the settlement payments in the best possible manner. The broker's efforts also involve imparting tax-planning and investment advice to his clients.
Ideally, the structured settlement broker should be registered with the Department of Justice, be registered in a state of America, and with one insurance company at least. Brokers should be insured against errors and omissions and should have a reputation for fair dealing.
While selling a structured settlement, taking help from a broker is recommended as a broker maintains professional contacts with several underwriters and is thus in a position to offer the best deal to a seller. One should ensure that the broker is not working exclusively for a selected few underwriters as it may result in lower lump sum payments.
A seller can take help from an attorney who has had past dealings with structured settlement brokers and knows the right questions to ask. One should focus queries on the cost of the process and time involved.
The broker should be experienced enough to handle the intricacies of a structured settlement and variables affected by individual situations. This ability makes an experienced broker a valuable asset in ensuring that the settlement process takes place fast and efficiently. The brokers should also possess all the means of communication so that time is not lost and there is less paper clutter at the client's end.
A structured settlement broker can provide an indication of the costs and time involved in selling a structured settlement. The broker's inputs will be useful in deciding the right amount of payments to sell. Alternatively, when an individual is obtaining a structured settlement payment through an out-of-court settlement or lottery winnings, the broker analyses the best possible payment scenario for his client after understanding his concerns. This helps the beneficiary in availing the settlement payments in the best possible manner. The broker's efforts also involve imparting tax-planning and investment advice to his clients.
Ideally, the structured settlement broker should be registered with the Department of Justice, be registered in a state of America, and with one insurance company at least. Brokers should be insured against errors and omissions and should have a reputation for fair dealing.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Small Business Merchant Accounts
A small business merchant account may be just what your company needs to edge out the competition. If your customer base is growing or they are asking increasingly for credit payment options as well as for information about your products and services, a merchant account can answer their questions and help to grow your business while leaving your competitors in the dust.
It is easy to apply for a small business merchant account. Just find a merchant account provider, which you can do by searching the Internet using relevant key terms. Browse the many sites offering this special type of commercial status before choosing one. Terms and fees vary a great deal, so you want to become knowledgeable about your choices before signing the contract. You may become tempted to take on more than a business the size of yours really needs at this point. Don't be misled by all the bells and whistles that are available. Stick with the basics when you start out, and add other options only when they are truly needed and when you can afford them.
Companies offering a small business merchant account are usually banks and other financial institutions. Typically they look for a company's good credit history, the ability to make payments on the merchant account, and avoidance of questionable commercial activities like spam or telemarketing. They are willing to extend credit to small business owners who demonstrate good business ethics, who have made good use of resources to date, and who have developed a sensible growth plan for long-term goals. Often, the application can be filled out online and submitted electronically, and you may receive an answer within a matter of hours. Then you can immediately purchase or lease credit processing equipment like a credit card processor, electronic or wireless, as well as check and debit processors, pagers, and other types of technical equipment that will upgrade your business into a higher professional realm by dint of efficiency and speed capabilities
Your small business merchant account will help you set up an Internet Website to promote your business internationally. Customers from around the world can browse the site any time of the day or night and shop without the hassle of finding the store closed or associates unavailable. With your convenience credit processing option, they can order a product or service and pay by credit card, facilitated by the underwriting bank or financial institution that authorizes MasterCard or Visa coordination and then pays you via an account transfer. All you really have to do after setting up the site and keeping it upgraded via service personnel is to make occasional equipment checks and then withdraw income from your merchant account.
A merchant account gives a small business owner the freedom to conduct business like a professional, using the same equipment and services to attract and serve busy customers. Others in your field who don't have a merchant account may lose clients to your company when you upgrade to the use of time-saving technology. Check out the advantages along with the responsibilities of opening a small business merchant account.
It is easy to apply for a small business merchant account. Just find a merchant account provider, which you can do by searching the Internet using relevant key terms. Browse the many sites offering this special type of commercial status before choosing one. Terms and fees vary a great deal, so you want to become knowledgeable about your choices before signing the contract. You may become tempted to take on more than a business the size of yours really needs at this point. Don't be misled by all the bells and whistles that are available. Stick with the basics when you start out, and add other options only when they are truly needed and when you can afford them.
Companies offering a small business merchant account are usually banks and other financial institutions. Typically they look for a company's good credit history, the ability to make payments on the merchant account, and avoidance of questionable commercial activities like spam or telemarketing. They are willing to extend credit to small business owners who demonstrate good business ethics, who have made good use of resources to date, and who have developed a sensible growth plan for long-term goals. Often, the application can be filled out online and submitted electronically, and you may receive an answer within a matter of hours. Then you can immediately purchase or lease credit processing equipment like a credit card processor, electronic or wireless, as well as check and debit processors, pagers, and other types of technical equipment that will upgrade your business into a higher professional realm by dint of efficiency and speed capabilities
Your small business merchant account will help you set up an Internet Website to promote your business internationally. Customers from around the world can browse the site any time of the day or night and shop without the hassle of finding the store closed or associates unavailable. With your convenience credit processing option, they can order a product or service and pay by credit card, facilitated by the underwriting bank or financial institution that authorizes MasterCard or Visa coordination and then pays you via an account transfer. All you really have to do after setting up the site and keeping it upgraded via service personnel is to make occasional equipment checks and then withdraw income from your merchant account.
A merchant account gives a small business owner the freedom to conduct business like a professional, using the same equipment and services to attract and serve busy customers. Others in your field who don't have a merchant account may lose clients to your company when you upgrade to the use of time-saving technology. Check out the advantages along with the responsibilities of opening a small business merchant account.
Lead-generating websites find the strongest leads with less work
Business is good, but you could still use a few more leads. Who couldn't?
Starting today, put your website to work generating solid leads that convert to solid sales.
The first step is to get those strong prospects to visit your website. There are a number of ways to do this. Join the forums and email groups where your prospects are most likely lurk and answer their questions with solid, well-researched information. This shouldn't be difficult since you are the expert at what you do, right? The most important part of your post is the signature at the bottom that links to your website, because the more one-way links your website has, the more search engines love you.
Give your lead-generating website another needed boost with keyword-driven advertising like Yahoo's Overture and Google's AdSense. Both offer advertising that puts your URL in front of the people most interested in what you're offering.
When those prospects arrive at your website, it's easy to warm them from tepid to piping hot with a value-packed opt-in newsletter. And when they enter their names and email addresses in the dialog box, their info goes right into your marketing database. If you've got a good customer relationship management (CRM) software program, it will instantly sent a confirmation email, giving you another point of contact in your quest for frequency. You can also use that CRM to manage your newsletters and send additional emails to your database.
Most importantly, once your prospect opts-in, make sure your website opens a 'Thank You' window that features more offers. Think of it as 'Thank You' marketing. After all, you know that these prospects are likely to appreciate and take advantage of additional reports or killer discounts. With the CRM program, you can track which customers took advantage of which offers. Now you can follow up with additional special offers tailored to their interests (which increases the chance they'll buy.)
In addition, you can generate even MORE leads by using your 'Thank You' to give prospects the opportunity to tell their friends about your newsletter with the click of a button.
Be sure to ask for the least amount of information that you need – the more info you ask for, the higher the chance that they won't give you any. Once you have a relationship, THEN you can start asking for more information, like addresses for direct response marketing (and again, all that goes into your marketing database.) With the right CRM software program, adding a direct mail component to your email marketing will be a snap.
Once you have your newsletter in place, another route to consider for lead generation is to launch a contest. Contests are sure-fire tools for creating buzz and community around your website. And because contests are such winners, prospects will likely be willing to share more personal information than they did to get the newsletter.
Joining forums and using keyword-driven advertising can bring prospects to your website, and newsletters, contests and special offers can keep them there. It all adds up to more leads of the right kind. And managed correctly, those leads are, after all, money. And who couldn't use a little more of that?
Starting today, put your website to work generating solid leads that convert to solid sales.
The first step is to get those strong prospects to visit your website. There are a number of ways to do this. Join the forums and email groups where your prospects are most likely lurk and answer their questions with solid, well-researched information. This shouldn't be difficult since you are the expert at what you do, right? The most important part of your post is the signature at the bottom that links to your website, because the more one-way links your website has, the more search engines love you.
Give your lead-generating website another needed boost with keyword-driven advertising like Yahoo's Overture and Google's AdSense. Both offer advertising that puts your URL in front of the people most interested in what you're offering.
When those prospects arrive at your website, it's easy to warm them from tepid to piping hot with a value-packed opt-in newsletter. And when they enter their names and email addresses in the dialog box, their info goes right into your marketing database. If you've got a good customer relationship management (CRM) software program, it will instantly sent a confirmation email, giving you another point of contact in your quest for frequency. You can also use that CRM to manage your newsletters and send additional emails to your database.
Most importantly, once your prospect opts-in, make sure your website opens a 'Thank You' window that features more offers. Think of it as 'Thank You' marketing. After all, you know that these prospects are likely to appreciate and take advantage of additional reports or killer discounts. With the CRM program, you can track which customers took advantage of which offers. Now you can follow up with additional special offers tailored to their interests (which increases the chance they'll buy.)
In addition, you can generate even MORE leads by using your 'Thank You' to give prospects the opportunity to tell their friends about your newsletter with the click of a button.
Be sure to ask for the least amount of information that you need – the more info you ask for, the higher the chance that they won't give you any. Once you have a relationship, THEN you can start asking for more information, like addresses for direct response marketing (and again, all that goes into your marketing database.) With the right CRM software program, adding a direct mail component to your email marketing will be a snap.
Once you have your newsletter in place, another route to consider for lead generation is to launch a contest. Contests are sure-fire tools for creating buzz and community around your website. And because contests are such winners, prospects will likely be willing to share more personal information than they did to get the newsletter.
Joining forums and using keyword-driven advertising can bring prospects to your website, and newsletters, contests and special offers can keep them there. It all adds up to more leads of the right kind. And managed correctly, those leads are, after all, money. And who couldn't use a little more of that?
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Time to Combine Your 401k Plans
2006 is the twenty fifth year of the 401k investment plan. Have you had more than one job in the last 25 years? If so, then you probably have more than one 401k plan floating around.
401k plans are now over 25 years old. They seemed a unique idea at first, but now just about every employer offers one. And I'm sure I don't need to tell you that they are a great way to save and earn money over the years.
The issue here is whenever you setup a 401k, you usually diversify your plan with your employer. Obviously, you must invest using the current options your employer offers, which is good. Investing a little in the high risk, some in the moderate risk, and some in the lower risk funds its typically the plan. You may have been a little more open on taking risk 20 years ago than you are today. Maybe now you are a little more conservative in your investment goals. So you think you are diversified, right?
Not really… especially if you have ten plans with ten different employers. Remember you tried to diversify each one when you set them up. Well, ten different plans diversified the same way means that your portfolio is not really diversified at all. One employer's moderate risk program may be another employer's low risk plan. Your 401k 15 years ago where you invested in "tech" stocks was probably a high risk option. Now some of those high tech stocks are the most conservative investments.
The only way to manage your multiple 401k plans effectively is to combine them into one plan, under one investment portfolio and review it at least annually. One of the great things about 401k plans is they are transferable. The important thing is not ever to close a 401k and reinvest it, this is a taxable event. You can easily transfer your old 401k plans into an existing or a new 401k so you can manage your risk.
This is one time when "everything under one umbrella" is the way to go.
401k plans are now over 25 years old. They seemed a unique idea at first, but now just about every employer offers one. And I'm sure I don't need to tell you that they are a great way to save and earn money over the years.
The issue here is whenever you setup a 401k, you usually diversify your plan with your employer. Obviously, you must invest using the current options your employer offers, which is good. Investing a little in the high risk, some in the moderate risk, and some in the lower risk funds its typically the plan. You may have been a little more open on taking risk 20 years ago than you are today. Maybe now you are a little more conservative in your investment goals. So you think you are diversified, right?
Not really… especially if you have ten plans with ten different employers. Remember you tried to diversify each one when you set them up. Well, ten different plans diversified the same way means that your portfolio is not really diversified at all. One employer's moderate risk program may be another employer's low risk plan. Your 401k 15 years ago where you invested in "tech" stocks was probably a high risk option. Now some of those high tech stocks are the most conservative investments.
The only way to manage your multiple 401k plans effectively is to combine them into one plan, under one investment portfolio and review it at least annually. One of the great things about 401k plans is they are transferable. The important thing is not ever to close a 401k and reinvest it, this is a taxable event. You can easily transfer your old 401k plans into an existing or a new 401k so you can manage your risk.
This is one time when "everything under one umbrella" is the way to go.
Don't Bother With The Banker
Bankers are seeing less and less new faces at their desk every day. The Internet has taken their clients and provided them with cheaper, easier and more convenient ways to get the money they need. As generations continue to march on, traditional lending companies are being forced to provide newer outlets to get younger people's business.
Unfortunately, with the lightning-fast expanse of the Internet, they're failing.
No longer is it required of anyone to trudge down to their local bank to borrow money. Now anyone with access to a computer can apply for loans online. Since most public libraries offer free use of Internet-connected PC's, nearly the entire world has Internet access.
What's so great about applying for a loan online? Well, first, privacy. Internet browsing is now more secure than ever, with most websites offering highly encrypted loan applications. Server technology can now decode your personal data after it arrives on the loan company's machine. These machines, which are only accessible by security-clearance holding individuals, are top of the line, secure, and hack-proof. Your data is safe.
Another great reason people are applying online for loans instead of visiting the banker is the immense amount of information available online. No matter what your question, you can find an honest and sometimes highly valuable answer that can save you money, whereas your banker can't know it all. Even if he's highly capable of providing answers, he can't get them all.
Thirdly: accountability. Online lenders have to provide their potential customers with a large amount of information in order to 'get the sale'. If they provide bad service, you can bet that Internet users will post that information online. A simple search for a lender can show you if people are happy with their service, or dissatisfied with it. Lenders go out of their way to make their customers happy, and once again that means better service and quality than any banker.
And probably the most important reason why people submit their loan applications online is the sheer amount of options. Online lending companies have to be greatly competitive – which translates into huge savings for people who take the time to look around for the best deals. There are so many online lenders that they are simply forced to provide a high level of service, or people will just not use them.
Online lending has taken huge strides to improve their image, and customers are responding. Borrowing large amounts of cash from an online company is a hugely growing trend. Bankers are not seeing as many faces because they are just overwhelmed with the amount of quality competition on the Internet. Between the advance security, vulnerability and accountability of online lenders, banks just cant keep up.
Unfortunately, with the lightning-fast expanse of the Internet, they're failing.
No longer is it required of anyone to trudge down to their local bank to borrow money. Now anyone with access to a computer can apply for loans online. Since most public libraries offer free use of Internet-connected PC's, nearly the entire world has Internet access.
What's so great about applying for a loan online? Well, first, privacy. Internet browsing is now more secure than ever, with most websites offering highly encrypted loan applications. Server technology can now decode your personal data after it arrives on the loan company's machine. These machines, which are only accessible by security-clearance holding individuals, are top of the line, secure, and hack-proof. Your data is safe.
Another great reason people are applying online for loans instead of visiting the banker is the immense amount of information available online. No matter what your question, you can find an honest and sometimes highly valuable answer that can save you money, whereas your banker can't know it all. Even if he's highly capable of providing answers, he can't get them all.
Thirdly: accountability. Online lenders have to provide their potential customers with a large amount of information in order to 'get the sale'. If they provide bad service, you can bet that Internet users will post that information online. A simple search for a lender can show you if people are happy with their service, or dissatisfied with it. Lenders go out of their way to make their customers happy, and once again that means better service and quality than any banker.
And probably the most important reason why people submit their loan applications online is the sheer amount of options. Online lending companies have to be greatly competitive – which translates into huge savings for people who take the time to look around for the best deals. There are so many online lenders that they are simply forced to provide a high level of service, or people will just not use them.
Online lending has taken huge strides to improve their image, and customers are responding. Borrowing large amounts of cash from an online company is a hugely growing trend. Bankers are not seeing as many faces because they are just overwhelmed with the amount of quality competition on the Internet. Between the advance security, vulnerability and accountability of online lenders, banks just cant keep up.
Believing is the Absence of Doubt
You've heard the expression, "Just believe it and it will come." Well, technically, that is true, however, 'believing' is not just thinking that you can have it; it is also feeling that it is possible. When we believe that we can "have it," that means we have no doubt in receiving it.
In the formula for Deliberate Attraction:
(1) Identify Desire
(2) Raise the Vibration (feeling)
(3) Allow it
the allowing of your desire can come to you very quickly providing you have no resistance to receiving it.
Resistance = Doubt
When you remove the 'doubt' that you can have what you want, you are allowing and that is how it can come to you.
Tools for allowing:
There are a number of tools, techniques and strategies that can help you remove the doubt (resistance). Here is one that I like best.
Ask yourself this question:
"Is there anyone on the planet doing or having what you desire?"
For example, if your desire is to attract your ideal client, or your ideal relationship, then you could ask yourself: "Is there anyone on the planet who has attracted their ideal client?"
Yes, there are millions of people on the planet who have attracted their ideal clients.
NOW THIS FEELS POSSIBLE!
And when it feels possible, you have removed doubt.
And when you remove the doubt, the universal Law of Attraction can bring your desires to you.
When using the formula for Deliberate Attraction, spend most of your time "Allowing," as it determines how quickly, or slowly, your desires will come to you.
In the formula for Deliberate Attraction:
(1) Identify Desire
(2) Raise the Vibration (feeling)
(3) Allow it
the allowing of your desire can come to you very quickly providing you have no resistance to receiving it.
Resistance = Doubt
When you remove the 'doubt' that you can have what you want, you are allowing and that is how it can come to you.
Tools for allowing:
There are a number of tools, techniques and strategies that can help you remove the doubt (resistance). Here is one that I like best.
Ask yourself this question:
"Is there anyone on the planet doing or having what you desire?"
For example, if your desire is to attract your ideal client, or your ideal relationship, then you could ask yourself: "Is there anyone on the planet who has attracted their ideal client?"
Yes, there are millions of people on the planet who have attracted their ideal clients.
NOW THIS FEELS POSSIBLE!
And when it feels possible, you have removed doubt.
And when you remove the doubt, the universal Law of Attraction can bring your desires to you.
When using the formula for Deliberate Attraction, spend most of your time "Allowing," as it determines how quickly, or slowly, your desires will come to you.
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