What does it mean to refinance? Why would someone want to refinance? There are many cases when a person would refinance. When we use the term refinance, we are typically referring to a loan such as a car or house loan. It may also be a business loan. For the purpose of this article, we are going to discuss the home loan but most of the same rules of refinancing apply to other types of loans as well. Refinancing your home can be defined as the...more
It's the time of year when calendars crowd out the books and magazines in bookstores and are even on sale at reduced prices. But there's a special kind of calendar that all good public relations professionals use - the editorial calendar. According to Shannon Cherry, using editorial calendars is one of the most effective, yet most overlooked tool in a publicist's toolkit. "Most people avoid using editorial calendars because it takes some time to...more
Ok, you say, I know I need a budget, but how do I prepare one? The most common budget period is one year, but this can vary depending on whether or not your business has seasonal or cyclical fluctuations. For example if you run a Christmas decorations shop, or a costume shop your business is going to peak during certain times of the year. The budgeting process usually begins with the collection of accounting data. In order to prepare a strong and achievable budget, you must analyze each item of income and expense from the prior year. If your accounting system is a mess and the figures are inaccurate, the numbers used in your budget will be useless. This is why it is so important to keep good records. Quicken and Quickbooks are excellent programs to help you with setting up an accounting system that is easy to use and understand. If you can review your prior year's figures with confidence, try to cultivate your strong areas and look for ways to increase performance or volume. For example, if one particular product sold well, take a closer look at that product. What you did to market it, etc. and try to model your other products in the same vein to accomplish the same results. You...more
For those of you who were not psychology majors the "psyche" is someone's mind. What motivates them. What are they thinking. How can you better understand them. All of which is important to those of us in lease purchasing. In fact, it is important to any business person. The ability to know what motivates your customer, how your customer thinks,...more
Got a huge need for publicity and a tiny publicity budget? You don't need to have a Madison Avenue-sized advertising budget to make your name known. Here are five ideas to help you promote your company:1. Write a column. Go to a local paper, no matter how small, and offer to write a column on your area of expertise or on business in general. Don't...more
Are you ever frustrated or hesitant when you talk to prospective customers because you can't readily explain why they should come to you rather than go to your competitors? Sure, you might have your 30-second elevator speech, but then they ask you that dreaded question, "So what makes you different?" Then, all those self-doubts creep in, and you just aren't sure what to say. Differentiation can boost confidence--yours in yourself and that prospective customer's confidence in you!Dif-fer-en-ti-ate v. tr. To perceive or show the difference in or between; discriminate.In business terms, to differentiate means to create a benefit that customers perceive as being of greater value to them than what they can get elsewhere. It's not enough for you to be different--a potential customer has to take note of the difference and must feel that the difference somehow fits their need better. (Other words that mean virtually the same thing: Competitive Advantage; Unique Selling Proposition; or Value Proposition.)As you are building your business, you can use differentiation to attract more customers. Once you have momentum, differentiation allows you to charge a higher price because you are...more
What is a portfolio and do I really need one? A portfolio is simply a group of investments held by an investor. It's a very carefully chosen selection of businesses and generally, yes; it's a good idea to have one. Let look at it this way. Imagine...more
If you don't have much Blackjack experience, it can be daunting stepping up to the tables for a game. You can, however, hide the fact of your inexperience very simply by remembering these straightforward rules. (Note - the rules of BlackJack will...more
Investing in the stock market is not purchasing a stock at 25 dollars a share, hoping it will go to 35 so you can sell it, then hoping it will drop back to 25 so you can buy it back, so that you can sell it again at 35, and so on and so forth. In my...more
Part One in a Five Part SeriesImagine what a professional football team would be like without a regimen of practice drills? Now take away their playbook and player statistics. What you have in this extreme scenario are highly talented (and perhaps...more
No more working for the same company for fifty years. Freelance work is becoming more and more prominent. On-line you can find work or someone to do a job. Check out www.guru.comThe world sure is changing, and if you look at job employment you will...more
One of the first lessons that "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" teaches is about understanding and controlling fear and greed. Many people go to work and work hard not to learn more and to grow, but out of fear that they won't have enough money to pay their...more