Simple Methods For Improving Your Personal Finance IQ
Poor personal finances can have tremendously adverse emotional and physical impacts. Here are some tips to get you on the road to financial stability.If you take advantage of online banking and bill paying, see what kinds of alerts you can set up with your bank. Many banks will send you email or text message updates in the event of changes to your account. Low balance alerts and large withdrawal alerts can help protect you from overdraft and fraud, for example.Use refunds from your income taxes to help repay existing debt. Use your refunds to pay back your debt, in an effort to achieve a solid financial situation. Those individuals will continue to carry their debt load once the cash has been spent.If you have debt, be sure to pay it with your tax refund. Most people blow their income tax money, rather than paying debts. This does nothing to eliminate debt.When you are having trouble keeping up with your credit card payments, then you really need to stop using it. Eliminate any unnecessary expenses and find another payment method to avoid maxing out your credit cards Repay the balance of that card before you use it to buy additional items.A member of your family who keeps an excellent budget, or happens to work in the finance industry, can be a great help when you need to learn how to budget your money. If one doesn’t have any family members that can help, they can turn to a trusted friend for advice.Eliminate credit card debt as soon as possible. Regardless of the amount that you owe, you are still giving up money that you could be using for other things. This is money that is unnecessarily spent! Do everything you can to pay off your full balance each month.Make sure you pay attention to the news so you can expect market movements. Many people concentrate solely on domestic news, but those with investments that can be affected by global changes need to take a wider view. Being knowledgeable about the world around you allows you to be more successful.To get your finances in better shape, use tax planning to its fullest advantage. Take a look at the investment opportunities that are available to you through your employer so that you can put your money into qualified plans. You may also have the chance to set aside pre-tax dollars to use for medical expenses. If your employer offers to match your contributions to a 401(k) plan, make the most of the opportunity. It is perfectly fine to use your money that you make the best way you know how.One way to save on bank fees is to only use the ATM’s at your financial institution. It is common for banks and other financial entities to charge substantial ATM fees, which can grow to large sums before you know it.You must be sure to pay your utility bills promptly each month. You can harm your credit rating by paying them late. You may also be charged a late fee, that will cost more money. Because of this, you should never pay late; so always pay your bills promptly.Pay off your bills on time every single month. Better yet, pay them off early. Once your bills are paid off, you’ll know exactly what you can afford to spend and save that month. This can also help if you have to make a surprise expenditure. This can help you to not be stressed about paying the next bill immediately.Never sell when you aren’t ready. If the stock you own is doing well, then let it continue to do well and not sell. Consider any stocks that aren’t performing well, and think about moving them around instead.To get your personal finances in order, you need to start saving immediately. Stop delaying saving and instead, make it your priority. Put aside money each payday for your savings account. By doing this you build a safety cushion for your finances.If Christmas time has typically meant a lot of cash spending, then consider making your gifts instead. You can save hundreds of dollars around the holidays by reducing spending at department stores. Creativity can enable you to reduce your expenses and it can also increase your net worth.One of the ways to improve your financial position is to avoid taking on unnecessary debt. Obviously some items will require credit to be used, such as the purchase of an automobile or a house. You shouldn’t rely on using credit or business checks daily though.These tips will help anyone understand and shape their personal financial situation into a healthier, more productive situation. No matter whether you’re starting with five dollars in the bank or with five thousand in investments, the same principles apply, and you can use tips like these to boost yourself into a new, better way of life.
New Advertising for Local Business Owners
If you run a business, you already know that advertising is key to getting the word out about your company. As a local business, there are many advertising mediums that may be cost effective for your current needs. You might have advertised on radio, television, newspapers, phone books, and even sponsored small events. Are you still struggling by though, and need new effective ways to advertise? Or do you just want to see a steady increase in the customer store visits that already have? Then read on and learn of a new little known, inexpensive method that can drastically increase your in store revenues.Let’s first look at some of the advertising sources you probably go through now for new local clientèle.Newspapers: Newspapers are good for getting the word out it may seem for the most part. You can place a small display ad for about $500.00 a day. While the the expensiveness of this method can be a debatable subject, we all know not everyone can afford this price on a daily basis. It’s just too expensive for he smaller mom and pop store to advertise to the consumer. Your ad isn’t guaranteed to be read in a newspaper either, and there is a good chance you won’t have much success without at least one month of solid ad exposure.Radio: I hate to say this about radio, but with the addition of newer medias this is a dying method of advertising. Aside from technology, putting entertainment more and more into the hands of listeners and less into the hands of the stations, there’s the cost. Costs can run you about the same as a newspaper display ad but unlike with newspapers, it can be a lot more hard to be guaranteed any listeners for your advertising campaign. Radio stations can only guarantee a population radius of reception.Television: While television costs are indeed going down for advertising, there is a reason for this. The real estate is thinning out with the explosion of many diverse channel networks not to mention cable on demand services. Production of a cheesy looking commercial can cost you somewhere in the thousands, and running your advertising campaign daily can cost you far more than your production to ensure your message gets across to your audience. Many commercials are muted these days by viewers lets not forget. Many people watch television for entertainment and find commercials mostly as another daily nuisance in their hectic lives.Phone Directories: Costs for a basic listing can run in the hundreds not to mention the cost of display advertising or incentive coupons. Phone directories though are not a bad option at all. In a directory you are listed under your local industry and people that are actively seeking and ready to spend money on such services/products can find you. There is not much bad to say about a phone directory really with the exception of pricing.For now that is all I will talk about in terms of traditional advertising mediums, I know, there are more, and yes I didn’t mention online advertising opportunities either, which there are many great opportunities for a local business, but there are other articles that can be used to focus on that particular subject later. What I really want to do now is open your eyes to a new untouched advertising source that will ultimately benefit your local business and it’s overall advertising dollar value grabbing your customers and better yet, at the point of the purchasing or visit decision.Yes, a new advertising service is available that gives you local recognition while giving you measurable insight on the effectiveness of your advertising campaign with no additional tools required. What if I told you that each time someone looked in the Yellow pages of a phone directory that you could be the first business they saw? No other business, just yours? Well, what if I also told you that the same person looking for your type of business actually was handed a phone with your business number already dialed and ringing? Would you want to purchase that type of advertisement? I bet you would, but you probably wouldn’t be able to afford it, or at least that’s what your thinking right now as I mention this. First off I’ll say advertising this effective is possible and does indeed exists. Affordable though? Answer is again, yes.The advertising service I speak of is probably from a company you have already heard of. A company that as we speak, Google is trying to replicate. The company is 1-800-FREE 411 and this company has compiled a database of every local business in the US and has them listed in every category of industry for the American consumer to find from their phones for free.When a caller calls the information service for a phone number they are fed a quick advertisement of a paid advertiser (competitor) and given the option to connect to the other business free of charge. The business that receives the call pays for the potential customer a one flat fee for the connection. What the business pays can be very little, as little as $3.00, but what is even better is what your paying for. Your paying for a highly motivated customer, who is ready to buy or visit your store or place of business. What would you rate that out of 1 and 10 for advertising value?I think you can see what this service can mean for you and your business. Increased consumer awareness, greater brand recognition, and faster sales conversion just to name a few, right? Well this service exists for business owners and with over 20 million free 411 calls a month, you can be sure someone is calling information for one of your competitors right now or in the very near future.As far as affordable, they currently (as of 2007) require a minimum deposit of $100.00 which also includes a free voice commercial read from your own written 250 word script. With no production fees or contracts, you can obviously see the overall value and cost effectiveness of this form of advertising. It might be wise to test drive the service for the minimum deposit and see for yourself how effective this advertising really can be for your own local business, your competition will be soon I’m sure.
Improve Your Small Business Marketing to Increase Your Profits
Marketing Tips to Help Drive Profits and Stay CompetitiveAlthough we call them “small” businesses, running a small business is no small task. Compared to larger corporations, small business have a much smaller margin for error when it comes to marketing initiatives – when a marketing campaign fails, larger corporations shake their heads, make adjustments, and move on but for small businesses, a big failure could mean the end of the company. Here are some great marketing tips to help your marketing efforts stay effective and your business stay competitive.Better Use of DataData about your target audience is invaluable to small businesses. This kind of information allows business owners and marketers to identify the types of people who are most likely to do business with them and purchase their products and/or services. Knowing your target audience can also help you to better tailor and focus your marketing messages to those types of consumers. If it is in the budget, hiring a professional data team can really help a small business make the most out of this information.Use Email More EffectivelyEmail can be a powerful tool when it comes to communicating with your current customers. Emails are a great opportunity to connect with customers and provide them information on upgrades, cross-selling opportunities, and additional sales or deals your business may be offering. Using email is a great, non-evasive way to stay connected to those consumers who already know your business and your brand. You can even take email marketing a step further by breaking down your contact list into groups by segments such as purchase history, age group, geographical area, and other important data points.Use Shareable Content to Expand Your ReachConsumers love to share, and social media has made it easier than ever for consumers to share things they like or dislike online. Known as “content marketing,” creating online content that is informative and meaningful to your target audience is a great way to reach more consumers and raise more recognition around your business and your brand. This information is most effective when posted on your company’s website but can also be shared on sites like YouTube and Facebook for easier access.Consider Paid Search to Increase VisibilityDriving traffic to your website is always an important part of marketing your business. One way to do this is to use a paid search to ensure your business’ website will appear when consumers search the types of products or services you offer. For example, should a consumer search “pet groomers in Harrisburg, PA” and you own a pet grooming business in or around that area, your business’s website will appear at the very top of the search results. The closer your businesses website link appears to the top of the search results, the more likely it is that consumers will follow that link to your site.Use Your ResourcesAside from in-house marketing, there are a number of resources available to help small businesses. For example, the United States Small Business Administration can offer business owners loans, counseling sessions, contracts, and other forms of assistance to help cultivate and grow their business. Consider other resources as well including Google Tools for website assistance and online marketing, Kabbage for small business loans, and Free Stock Images for high quality images for your marketing materials.