Next to winning the lottery, a debt consolidation loan is a debtor's dream. With one monthly payment and a fixed monthly payment schedule, you can actually see an end to those monthly payments. In reality, consolidating bills isn't always easy. If you have a lot of debt, it can be hard to find a consolidation loan at a lower interest rate. And if you're not careful, you can end up deeper in debt than when you started. Your goal in consolidating...more
It is a common question when investors review their retirement planshould we include social security benefits into our retirement income projections?It seems the closer an investor is to retirement, the more likely he/she will include social security benefits into the analysis. Younger investors, however, may feel compelled to omit such benefits. They must then become mavericks on the retirement front. The choice is yours, but before you...more
Do you ever wonder why some people seem to get all the lucky breaks in business while others struggle to barely get by? They seem to be in the right place at the right time. Fact is, maybe they're not at the right place at the right time; maybe they just know how to make things "happen." As a business advisor I often see people begin and end a business before they have given it a chance to grow. For some reason, they seem to think that all they have to do is have a product or service to sell and the rest magically takes care of itself. Nothing could be further from the truth. For any business to succeed there are steps that must be taken. Success in business is actually quite simple. Not always easy, but it is simple. As the top rated home-based business in the state of Utah for 2004 I speak from experience. My success is a direct result of the actions I have taken on a daily basis. My success is also a result of having some great mentors over the years. Mentors who were willing to share time and knowledge in order that I could grow my business. My choice with the information that was shared was to either use it or not. Fortunately, in many cases I listened and applied what was...more
Branding is one hot topic, although it is wildly misunderstood. To make things even more confusing, branding is often tossed in the same basket as marketing which makes its application to an entrepreneur or sole-practioner even more unclear.While out speaking on branding, the question that I hear most is "How do I know if my business or service is...more
Starting Your New Home Business The Right Way Once you have made the initial preparations for starting up your home business, it is time to think about getting a little discipline. I don't mean that in any salacious sort of way: we are not talking about chastisement involving pain and leather goods. If you are entertaining this kind of idea, you...more
The seven essentials of business communicationThere are seven essential elements to successful business communication: Structure Clarity Consistency Medium Relevancy Primacy/Recency Psychological Rule of 7±2If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these seven elements.So let's look at each in turn...StructureHow you structure your communication is fundamental to how easily it is absorbed and understood by your audience.Every good communication should have these three structural elements: an opening, a body, and a close.The Opening allows your communication's audience to quickly understand what the communication is about. Short, sharp and to the point, a good opening lets your audience quickly reach a decision of whether or not to pay attention to your message.The Body is where you get to the 'heart' of your message. It is in the body of the message that you communicate all of your facts and figures relative to the action you want your communication's audience to take after attending to your message.There's a key to rapid uptake of your message -- KISS. Pitch your presentation's graphics at a grade seven child. If THEY...more
Everyday someone asks me, "How do you start a pet-sitting business?" I try to answer their question succinctly. But the truth is, starting a pet-sitting business, or any business is not always a succinct process. Following are 21 tips that I know can...more
Like human nature over time, the power of good public relations remains the same. Whether you are a manager working for a business, a non-profit or an association, at some point, you will want, or need to create outside stakeholder behavior change...more
We've all heard about certain ways to cut your grocery bill like avoiding the grocery store when you're hungry, using coupons on double coupons day, and buying only the items on your list. These are all good tips and we should keep using them. ...more
You excitedly signed up for that pre-made money generating website you saw in a popbehind window. You signed up for the affiliate IDs. You set up your autoresponder and signed up for several "traffic generators". You read the writings of all the...more
My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for the past two decades teaches me that most leaders are screwing up their careers. On a daily basis, these leaders are getting the wrong results or the right results in the wrong ways....more
Each year, businesses write-off six percent of revenue to waste, fraud and abuse. But why would managers throw all that hard-earned money away when there is a reliable way to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse using accounting policies & procedures to...more