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Archives
April 19, 2010
A Quality Product Can Make or Break a Business... How to
"Pay Yourself First"... The Return of Bartering... Share Your
Info Marketing Skills for a Bigger Payout... and More.
A Quality Product Can Make or Break a Business
By Adrian Newman, Founder of e-Wealth Daily
Let me be the first one to say that you need to keep a careful
watch over your business finances. You shouldn't overextend
yourself; budgeting your money will keep your business afloat.
Let me also say that I'm a big advocate for quality and that
skimping on production of your product should also be
avoided.
Now, I'm not saying that you should overpay. And when an
opportunity comes around that can save you money without
compromising the quality of the product your business is
selling, then take it.
But if you don't have a quality product, you're not going to
have return customers. It's that simple. I understand that maybe
you could buy low-quality products for a low price, and make a
good profit. But you're not going to beat the competition that
way.
Your customers will come back for good quality -- and they
will pay for more for it. You need to separate yourself from
other businesses with your quality service and/or product.
Prices can be competitive, there's no doubt about that, but just
because you offer your product at a significantly lower price,
doesn't mean you will win in the end.
I think it's extremely important to stand behind your product
100%.
For instance, have you ever been in a store and asked the
salesperson a question regarding the materials used in a
product or its general quality, only to be answered with a blank
stare or avoidance of the question? More often than not, I hear
salespeople promote the price more than the product.
You need to take pride in your products. If you are confident
about what you're selling, then you're going to sell a lot more
of it. If you are able to honestly tell a customer that your
product will help them, and that it is of good quality, they will
buy it. They might pay more for it, to cover your own costs, but
they will be satisfied knowing they are getting the best -- and
they will come back because of this.
You can't expect "the cheapest prices in town" advertising to
work for you. You can't compete with the Wal-Marts of the
world when it comes to price, so you need to provide good
quality in order to boost your business.
In order to offer quality products, you might need to make
some adjustments in your budget. You may have to cut back on
advertising, or perhaps keep fewer products in stock. Adjust
your budget and make room for quality, because it will pay off
in the long run.
Remember: you can charge more for a quality product, so that
makes up for the cost. You can have huge sales every single
weekend, and you might get some interest, but quality products
and customer service are guaranteed to set you apart.
How to "Pay Yourself First"
By John Hurd, Chief Wealth Researcher
Here's something you've probably heard more often than you
can count. It's a concept that sounds simple, but many people
may not be aware of what it actually means.
This concept is something you can use to get the most savings
possible in the shortest amount of time. It's called, "pay
yourself first."
See, sounds simple doesn't it? But here's where it gets tricky.
How do you pay yourself first when you have bills stacked up
waiting to deplete your bank account as soon as you have even
a little money?
Well, the answer is quite easy once you set things in motion.
Many people now get their pay directly deposited into their
bank accounts. Whether it is every week, every other week or
even once a month, it doesn't matter. You see, what you can do
is set up your account so that each time this money is
deposited, a set amount is instantly whisked away to a separate
account.
Since you never see the money, it becomes easier to save,
because you aren't faced with the decision of saving some
money or using it to go out to dinner at your favorite
restaurant.
At first, this may take some getting used to. But after a few
months pass, you'll be able to adjust and may not even miss
that set amount of cash that goes right into your savings.
Are you ready to start paying yourself first? Great; here's how
you can get set up:
1) Set up an automatic withdrawal from your account. Call
your bank and discuss this option right away. The service
representative knows the exact tools your bank has to help you
out, so ask as many questions as you can think of.
2) Do not touch that money. So many of us are lured in by
temptation. And once your savings begin to grow, you're going
to want to dip into it for that vacation. So, make it difficult to
get at your money. Many banks load their higher-interest
savings accounts with fees for withdrawals. Know what these
fees are and use them as a deterrent.
3) Increase your automatic savings amount gradually over
time. Depending on how late you are getting started with your
savings, it is best to set a realistic amount of money to
automatically withdraw from your pay. Once you begin to
adjust to your new budget, start increasing your savings. Ten
percent of your income is ideal.
4) Stick to what works, and avoid the high-risk. What you do
with your saved money is just as important as how much you
are contributing. Talk with your banker and get set up on a
secure investment. You may not have the potential to make
huge amounts of money this way, but you'll reduce your risk of
actually losing money.
The Return of Bartering
By Michael Newman, Self-made Millionaire
It's rare to reach a point in your life -- or even a day -- when
you don't need something. Of course, you may not always
have, or want to spend, the money to satisfy those needs. In
these times, it's a good idea to take stock of what you can do
or might have that others may want. With the economy as weak
as it is, more people and businesses are open to bartering for
goods and services.
People are always willing to unload the things they have for the
things they need, it's just the way things go; and usually they
don't want to part with their money to make it happen. In this
light, bartering is often a forgotten method of acquisition
(especially in North America).
The fact is that, by using your skills and services, you can
acquire many of the things you need without having to open up
your wallet.
One of the largest expenses people deal with is vehicle
maintenance, and one thing absolutely everyone needs done is
taxes. Well, if you are experienced in tax preparation and need
some work done on your car, perhaps talk to a mechanic about
offering your services for his.
Now this is one just example of bartering. The fact is that
nearly everybody possesses some body of knowledge or skill
set that other people are looking for. All you've got to do is
find the ones who have what you need!
Try to pursue trading partners or suggest alternative forms of
payment for services rendered. Bartering usually works the
best when you have an excess of inventory or perhaps work in
a seasonal industry.
There are also web sites like freecycle.com and barter.com that
put people in touch to trade for the things they need. Not only
is bartering a great way to save, but it also helps you get rid of
the stuff you don't want, while letting you have fun doing it!
Share Your Info Marketing Skills for a Bigger Payout
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert
Info marketing is like a lot of entrepreneurial enterprises. It
requires a lot of work. But while other entrepreneurs spend
loads of time pounding the pavement, cold-calling potential
clients, and trying to maintain a certain image, information
marketing requires work worthy of any graduate student.
As much as you might know about whatever subject you are
creating info for, you have to do your homework for your
information marketing. You spend loads of time doing
research, compiling information, and putting it back out into
the public forum. This hard work is what brings home the
bacon for you, and it is what gains you the success.
With this success come admirers. More than likely, you are
going to run into folks who are impressed with your skills, your
knowledge, and your love of what you do. For lack of a better
word, they are fans. These fans might go to great lengths to
seek you out. They might take you for lunch and quiz you
about how to get going on their information business. Better
yet, they might contract you out to work for them. If these
opportunities come your way, take them. Your hard work can
be a great teaching ground for someone else.
Then there are a few who might want you to share your
existing information. They aren't content creators or they can't
find anyone who can better the content you have. From there
you might get the pitch: would you share your information?
Sharing information with a peer's information marketing
business is a tricky scenario. Sure you feel honored that you are
being asked to share your information, but you have to be
careful. There are a lot of things to consider and even more
problems to avoid.
If you decide to share your info with another entrepreneur, you
first have to work out an agreement. Sit down and discuss what
content you are going to share, how often you are going to
share it, and what compensation you will get for doing so.
Some entrepreneurs or other interested parties wanting your
info might want to you hustle through this and get going so
they can use your content, but it's up to you to make sure that
all areas of the agreement are thoroughly negotiated. No matter
how long it takes, work the deal out right down to the smallest
detail.
It also does not hurt do up your deal in writing. I am not one to
breed suspicion in others, as I think most entrepreneurial deals
are good, even if they are just done verbally or with a
handshake. But you never know what can happen.
Occasionally things go wrong in a professional partnership
and, in the event that it does, a contract is good to have in order
to ensure all matters are legally abided by. Once they are
fulfilled, you can resolve matters and move on.
Related to the above, I often tell info marketers that it is always
good to copyright their material. Once your stuff is officially
copyrighted, you can control who does and does not have
access to your information. You can use government policies to
determine what to charge others who want to use your content
and restrict what material you do or do not want to be used by
another party. For more information on this, contact your local
small business bureau or government revenue agency to see
how you can properly trademark your info material and what
policies others have to stick to if they want to use your info.
But, more than anything, I also suggest to info marketers that,
should they want to share their info with other entrepreneurs,
it's often best to take that extra hour and rewrite the material
that the client wants and sell it flat out to them. Why? To save
headaches. If you want to avoid hassles of whose content is
whose and fights over what is owed over shared content, it's
often best just to redo the content as a "new" piece and then
sell it off as its own entity, much like an ad agency writer
developing another beer ad for another brewery. They've done
it once and now just have to go through the simple motions of
doing it again. There is no issue with plagiarism and you
maintain a good relationship with your client, who now has
something of their own to help promote their business.
In spite of what some people think, information sharing can
build great professional relationships for info marketers. You
expand your own existing horizons while helping someone else
build up their own professional relationship. It can be a great
two-way street of success for information marketers to grow
and connect.
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