November 12, 2007

Turn Seasonal Money into a Constant Cash Flow... Take a Vacation for Less and Recharge Your Batteries... Making Big Decisions this Holiday Season... Know Your Competition and Thrive... and More.

** Turn Seasonal Money into a Constant Cash Flow
By Adrian Newman, Founder of e-Wealth Daily

Please excuse me if I focus on the holidays a bit earlier than usual. It's such a great time of year for celebrating with family and friends — but also for making money. This is the time that you could make a lot of money with a seasonal business.
 
A seasonal business could be a great means of making a lot of money in a short period of time. There are a number of businesses that are only run during the holiday season. These businesses are only profitable for a few months, but many times the owner intentionally takes his/her profits and moves on at the end of the season.
 
However, some businesses could make the transition to be run all year round as a full-time venture. As a seasonal business owner, you have to decide if you enjoy your business enough to run it all year round, as well as if the business has the potential to continue successfully.
 
The good news is that there are a number of things that you can do to make the transition a smooth one. And just after the Christmas rush is over is the best time to start!
 
Profit potential is certainly something that you need to consider. However, if it's a business that you want to run all year round, then it can be done with some careful planning and a good understanding of your target customer base.
 
The most important aspect of making a seasonal business such as a Christmas craft or holiday gift basket business work all year round is the customer. You have to concentrate on keeping your valued customers coming back. Make sure that you take the time to get to know your customers. Know them on a personal level and make a connection with each one of them if you can.
 
Have a customer mailing list where you can take down names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and mailing addresses. You want to be sure that, when the season ends, you have a means of staying in touch with them. You have to be willing to stay in touch with the people who buy your products. There are a number of effective methods for doing this.
 
Sending out a simple postcard or e-mail every now and then could work wonders. These are both inexpensive means of promoting your business — and an excellent way of keeping the customer informed about what you are offering.
 
The key to making your promotional efforts work is making them worthwhile for the customer. Most people won't want to receive an e-mail unless they're getting something from it. So, only send out e-mails that advertise a sale or a special and have flyers that include a coupon for a discount, for example.

I’ll talk more about why you need to do this on Wednesday.

Feeling burnt out? Tired? Stressed? Are you having a tougher time every passing morning when it comes to making the commute to work? Well, maybe it's time you took a vacation. It's a fact that you have to allow your body to rest and that you need to recharge your batteries. 
 
Your mind and body can only take so much work and stress before you start physically and mentally suffering from it as a result. You have to get the rest you need and deserve. This means taking full advantage of weekends and of your vacation time away from work. 
 
We all deserve to take a vacation every year, but there is no reason any of us should drop a huge sum of money on travel. You can travel for less by keeping the following tips in mind:

Buy package deals. This is a great means of getting your flight, accommodations, and meals all for one low price. Package deals often go on sale and they can translate into some great savings. Ask your travel agent about this option.

A vacation is not a luxury — it's a necessity, so make sure that you take advantage of your well-deserved time off.

** Making Big Decisions this Holiday Season
By John Hurd, Chief Wealth Researcher

A recent survey has revealed that some North-eastern residents aren’t going to be spending as much money on gifts as they did last holiday season.

Possible reasons for this drop in spending are suggested to be the pressures of an uncertain housing market, the value of the dollar and the ever-increasing cost of oil. And if you’ve felt the impact of any of these factors, then you are probably considering doing the same.

It’s no secret that people spend a whole lot more during the holiday season. Many businesses rely on this time of year to make a large percentage of their yearly sales. College kids from around the country can be found working part-time during this season to help meet with the demand of holiday shoppers.

But it’s not just the malls where people are spending all this money. Airlines are filled to capacity with vacationers on top of their usual traffic. Restaurants typically also fill up, as people tend to eat out with the loved ones they don’t have to the opportunity to see all year.

Now, this can be a difficult season when it comes to sticking to your budget. However, it is quite possible to still enjoy the season without breaking the bank.

The first thing you can do is to try and get creative with your gift giving. As much of a temptation as it can be to spoil the grandkids with the latest and greatest toys, try to consider your options. Is that high-priced gadget just a fad that will be forgotten about once it breaks down? Think about some of your favorite gifts you’ve received over the years. They were probably something you could use over and over again, and may even still have today.

Up next are the invitations to dinner parties at the homes of friends and relatives. If it is customary with your group to bring something to show thanks, talk to your host beforehand. Rather than adding to the stock of wine that will pile up, see if you can’t contribute in another way. Preparing an appetizer or dessert can be a great way to still bring your share without spending over your limit.

And finally, a word of advice for surviving a few dinners out at restaurants. Avoiding the lure of that huge steak can be tough. I try to have a small snack before heading to the restaurant. That way, I’m not immediately drawn in by the smell of cooking food. You could also skip the actual dinner and instead offer to meet for just a coffee or drink. Besides, it’s hard to talk with a mouth full of food.

Because I know you’re looking for more than just saving money, I’ll discuss a few ways that you could make money during this holiday season in my next article.

** Know Your Competition and Thrive
By Michael Newman, the "Money Finder"

When you’re starting a business, there is one factor that is practically inevitable: you are going to have to deal with competition. Although you won’t be able to directly control the competition’s practices, ideas, policies and subsequent successes or failures, you can choose with whom and how you wish to compete.

In the early stages of your business development, it is extremely important to identify who you are competing against and how you will effectively do so. After all, if you can’t compete, you won’t have customers, and if you don’t have customers, do you really have a business?

The best way to do this is to study your potential competition and find out what it is that makes them the best option for consumers. Is it the low prices, great selection, top-notch customer service or a quality job that can be counted on each and every time?

After you’ve found out what it is that makes the best the best, see how you can alter your business to be a serious competitor. Maybe there are specialties you can offer to capitalize on a niche, improve on areas where the main competition is lacking, or just find a new, innovative way of doing something that will leave your competition scratching their heads. Talking to consumers can be a great way to
do this.

Also, you need to take a calculated approach in your business plan and not just come out of the gate and hope for the best. Think of it this way: imagine your goal is to be the best basketball player in the world, but you’re only 6’8”... 6’8”, hey, that’s pretty tall, right? I’m sure you could be a great dunker! Until you go up against Shaq,
that is.

You see, if you want to be a great dunker, the same way you want to have a competitive business, you need to know how to approach the competition. So, as a basketball player, if your competition is Shaq, then you might want to focus on your jump shot as opposed to slam dunks, because if you take the ball up to dunk on Shaq, you’ll be sitting on the ground trying to figure out where the last 5 seconds went.

By altering your plan, you can adapt to the competition and still produce great results. You just have to come up with a specific, tested business plan.

I live up in the Northeast, and right now two of the biggest companies in my area have engaged in war, and I’ll tell you what, it’s been fairly one-sided. One of the companies involved is a little corporation you may have heard of called Wal-Mart; the other is a grocery chain. Now, this grocery chain has been around for years and has a number of stores in my region, but they’ve recently encountered a problem: they’ve tried to directly challenge Wal-Mart, which is, in essence, the Shaq of retail. The grocer, instead of continuing to take figurative jump shots to compete, has decided to try and dunk — and it hasn’t been working.

You see, the grocer decided it would begin to build bigger stores with a much wider variety of items including clothing, toys and many of the same items that can be found in Wal-Mart, while the quality of food has been decreasing. All in all, the grocer picked the wrong battle, and now all the public can do is wish them luck.

Paying close attention to the competition when putting together your business plan could help protect your enterprise from being swallowed up the second it hits the scene. Being able to adapt to the market and finding exactly where and how you will fit in are key to your business’ success.