The choices can be confusing so here are some basic definitions.
Store/Vendor Credit
When businesses need to buy office supplies, products to resell, or
materials to manufacture products, they often purchase them on
credit terms. The terms give the business from 30 days to 90 days
to pay for the materials. Sometimes the company offering the terms
will add a finance surcharge to the total purchase, or offer a cash
discount, if payment is made within a certain time frame, say ten
days.
A credit application can be required to obtain the credit and a
credit report as well. Occasionally the store or vendor doesn't
require anything and will just bill the business for the
merchandise or service.
The US Postal Service doesn't offer any sort of credit to
businesses for delivery services but many other delivery companies
do.
Business Credit Cards
Are issued to the business and are used much the same way as
personal credit cards are. They're helpful when nothing but a
credit card is accepted such as car rentals or hotel stays. The
interest rate is rather high just like personal credit cards.
Business credit cards can be helpful when tracking business
expenses, travel for example and separating it from personal
expenses. It also eliminates the need for expense reports if you
use the business card and not your personal credit card.
Consignment
Consignment is simply offering goods for sale that you don't own.
The goods are provided to you on credit. The catch is that you pay
for the product only when and if it sells. If it doesn't sell you
return the product to its owner. This works most often in retail
establishments. An agreement has to be signed with the owner of
the merchandise with the consignment terms. The business pays the
owner a percentage of the retail price and retains a commission for
the sale. The commission can be up to 40% of the retail price.
The entire bookstore industry is set up on the consignment system.
Bookstores have up to 90 days to pay for books and can return them
up to one year if they don't sell.
Leasing
Most autos these days are offered on a lease as well as a straight
purchase option, but there are all sorts of other types of
equipment that can be leased as well. Leasing can work if the
product tends to become obsolete quickly or is only needed for a
two or three year time period. Leasing has an added advantage in
that you don't have to tie up cash but can spread out the payments
for the equipment over the life of the lease. For example you might
need to completely update your computer network. The cash outlay
might be $20,000 or $30,000 dollars, all paid right now. Leasing
lets you pay for the computer equipment as you use it over the next
two to three years.
Purchase Order Financing
You've been trying to convince a customer to award your business a
major contract to purchase thousands of dollars of your product.
They finally sign on the dotted line and you realize you don't have
enough product on hand to fill the order. Where do you find the
money to buy the materials and manufacture the product? Purchase
ordering financing does exactly that. The lender determines the
amount they will lend to you on the purchase order based on the
customer's credit worthiness. You will only get a percentage of
the value of the order, usually not more than 50% and the purchase
order financing will have to be paid back as soon as the order is
shipped.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Boost Your Online Business With Social Networking
Social networking sites like Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, and Ryze
can boost your online business by increasing traffic to your
website or blog. It won't cost you anything but time to set up an
account. Develop an interesting bio with a link back to your main
website or blog. Upload a recent photo to personalize the account.
Humor is always a nice touch but don't go overboard and keep it
squeaky clean.
If there's a blog module, write and upload a few posts. You can
use the same bio, and blog posts, for each one of your social
networking sites or you can show a different side of yourself.
Keep your message consistent. Someone searching on your name might
find all of your networking sites and would wonder if the
personality you present is completely different for each site.
These sites work on the principle of getting to know the members
who have similar interests. They're not focused on making money or
providing marketing opportunities. Look for people who may be
interested in what you have to offer with keyword searches or
joining groups. Send requests to those who you feel would benefit.
When you've established a level of trust and familiarity you've
dramatically increased the chances of selling your product or
services.
There is an added benefit to Myspace because you can create
friends. After someone has befriended you or has accepted you as a
friend you can send bulletins. These bulletins are not only seen
by your friends but are visible to all of their friends. For
example if you have 50 friends and each of those have 50 friends,
any bulletin you send out has the potential of being seen by 2500
people. Of course you're going to keep the bulletins full of great
content and not just spam.
Social networking means networking and that means a bit of work for
you. Don't establish an account, throw up a few blogs posts, get a
couple of friends and then desert it for a month. Every few days
add something, send out a message, respond to a message and expand
your circle of contacts.
Social networking can increase your online business but it does
take work.
can boost your online business by increasing traffic to your
website or blog. It won't cost you anything but time to set up an
account. Develop an interesting bio with a link back to your main
website or blog. Upload a recent photo to personalize the account.
Humor is always a nice touch but don't go overboard and keep it
squeaky clean.
If there's a blog module, write and upload a few posts. You can
use the same bio, and blog posts, for each one of your social
networking sites or you can show a different side of yourself.
Keep your message consistent. Someone searching on your name might
find all of your networking sites and would wonder if the
personality you present is completely different for each site.
These sites work on the principle of getting to know the members
who have similar interests. They're not focused on making money or
providing marketing opportunities. Look for people who may be
interested in what you have to offer with keyword searches or
joining groups. Send requests to those who you feel would benefit.
When you've established a level of trust and familiarity you've
dramatically increased the chances of selling your product or
services.
There is an added benefit to Myspace because you can create
friends. After someone has befriended you or has accepted you as a
friend you can send bulletins. These bulletins are not only seen
by your friends but are visible to all of their friends. For
example if you have 50 friends and each of those have 50 friends,
any bulletin you send out has the potential of being seen by 2500
people. Of course you're going to keep the bulletins full of great
content and not just spam.
Social networking means networking and that means a bit of work for
you. Don't establish an account, throw up a few blogs posts, get a
couple of friends and then desert it for a month. Every few days
add something, send out a message, respond to a message and expand
your circle of contacts.
Social networking can increase your online business but it does
take work.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Organizing Your Email And Increase Your Productivity
Organizing your email can be a challenge for anyone. Email has
taken the place of memos in business, correspondence in your
personal life and direct mail marketing. There are newsletters,
special announcements, updates and of course the dreaded spam.
It's easy to just open an email, think to yourself "I'll answer
this later this afternoon," and then go on to the next email. Of
course the email doesn't get answered and it starts to pile up.
When paper starts to stack up, it nags at us to do something with
it. Either file it, read it or throw it away. Email doesn't have
a physical presence, so the tendency is to let it pile up in our
inbox.
Important business emails can be overlooked. Dates can be missed
and opportunities lost because the important email is sitting there
in virtual stacks of the other emails. When you go to look for an
email about the luncheon meeting this afternoon, it could have been
unintentionally deleted, in the spam folder, or caught between two
announcements of Junior's soccer game.
Organizing your email can be accomplished using the same methods of
organizing hard copy papers. Set up folders on your email program
under main categories. For example you could have Personal,
Marketing, Newsletters, Family, and Important - Needs Attention.
This is an over simplification, as there are probably 10 to 15
different categories for each of us that would make sense. Those
categories depend on your work, business and personal interests.
If you get a lot of email, say more than 50 (not counting spam) a
day, go through the new email at set times of the day, once in the
morning, once after lunch, and once around about an hour before
you're ready to quite work for the day.
Answer the email immediately upon opening if it's just a simple
request or requires an easy response, then file it under the
appropriate folder. A lot of email is just an update that doesn't
require any action on your part so file that in the correct folder
immediately as well.
If the email requires research before responding put it in the
Important- Needs Attention folder. Every morning go through that
folder and address the unanswered emails and then file in the
appropriate folder.
Every week go through each folder and delete those emails that have
been answered and don't require any follow up. If you prefer you
can move the email to a holding folder for 30 days and then delete.
There is another way to organize your email quickly and
efficiently. There are software products which let you sort
through and organize your e-mails. Their comprehensive filing
system can help manage inbox and folders. Users who are on the
move, constantly receiving and sending e-mails will find email
software organizers beneficial.
taken the place of memos in business, correspondence in your
personal life and direct mail marketing. There are newsletters,
special announcements, updates and of course the dreaded spam.
It's easy to just open an email, think to yourself "I'll answer
this later this afternoon," and then go on to the next email. Of
course the email doesn't get answered and it starts to pile up.
When paper starts to stack up, it nags at us to do something with
it. Either file it, read it or throw it away. Email doesn't have
a physical presence, so the tendency is to let it pile up in our
inbox.
Important business emails can be overlooked. Dates can be missed
and opportunities lost because the important email is sitting there
in virtual stacks of the other emails. When you go to look for an
email about the luncheon meeting this afternoon, it could have been
unintentionally deleted, in the spam folder, or caught between two
announcements of Junior's soccer game.
Organizing your email can be accomplished using the same methods of
organizing hard copy papers. Set up folders on your email program
under main categories. For example you could have Personal,
Marketing, Newsletters, Family, and Important - Needs Attention.
This is an over simplification, as there are probably 10 to 15
different categories for each of us that would make sense. Those
categories depend on your work, business and personal interests.
If you get a lot of email, say more than 50 (not counting spam) a
day, go through the new email at set times of the day, once in the
morning, once after lunch, and once around about an hour before
you're ready to quite work for the day.
Answer the email immediately upon opening if it's just a simple
request or requires an easy response, then file it under the
appropriate folder. A lot of email is just an update that doesn't
require any action on your part so file that in the correct folder
immediately as well.
If the email requires research before responding put it in the
Important- Needs Attention folder. Every morning go through that
folder and address the unanswered emails and then file in the
appropriate folder.
Every week go through each folder and delete those emails that have
been answered and don't require any follow up. If you prefer you
can move the email to a holding folder for 30 days and then delete.
There is another way to organize your email quickly and
efficiently. There are software products which let you sort
through and organize your e-mails. Their comprehensive filing
system can help manage inbox and folders. Users who are on the
move, constantly receiving and sending e-mails will find email
software organizers beneficial.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Will a Business Plan Help Me Obtain Credit?
If you're looking for credit from a vendor or service provider,
probably not. But, and it's a huge but, if you're looking for a
bank loan, absolutely yes.
Bankers can be nervous little critters and need to be assured of
two things:
1. Your company is stable and has enough cash flow to pay back the
loan with interest.
2. The owners of the company, that's you, has the intention to pay
back the loan.
A business plan demonstrates that the company has the assets in
place to secure the loan if all else fails. It also shows that
you, as the owner, has the foresight to plan ahead. The business
plan gives the banker just about everything they need to know about
your company.
What should be included in a business plan? It's not a complicated
document to put together. You'll need an executive summary which
should be about two pages long and is just, as the title says, a
summary of your plan. Also included should be an overview of the
history of your company, its industry, the market, competitors, the
products, and marketing strategies. The business plan doesn't have
to be 300 pages long. As long as all the required information is
included it can be 10 to 15 pages in addition to the financial
statements.
The business plan also includes the historical financials for the
last three years and projected profit and loss statements, balance
sheet and cash flow projections for the next three years. If the
historical statements can be put together by your account so much
the better.
A banker would probably also want to see an aged listing of your
accounts receivable and payable. A list of your major accounts
would be appropriate as well.
Bankers use the information to learn about the company and the
principals. It also gives them documentation for the loan
committee to justify the loan, interest rates, and loan covenants.
Of course the bank won't use the business plan as the only
information and sole documentation but will verify it with outside
information, credit reports, a Dunn's report, and if necessary
onsite inspections.
The business plan also serves as a check point. Down the road the
banker can look at your current performance and compare it to
projected performance in the plan. If there are huge variances, an
explanation will be necessary.
Appearances count in a business plan. Have a few trusted advisors
read it for clarity; if they don't understand your plan, the banker
won't either. And what isn't understood doesn't get approved.
Triple check for spelling and grammatical errors, first impressions
count. Finally, even if you use a program for forecasting, check
the math, and check that any changes you've made in your
forecasting model are carried through to your narrative in the
plan. It's confusing to find one number for total sales in the
financial statements and another one in the narrative.
Have the plan copies on good paper. You can print on both sides of
the page if the paper is heavy enough in weight to stop the bleed
through to the other side. It's not necessary to use a gold
embossed leather binder, but do use a new binder.
probably not. But, and it's a huge but, if you're looking for a
bank loan, absolutely yes.
Bankers can be nervous little critters and need to be assured of
two things:
1. Your company is stable and has enough cash flow to pay back the
loan with interest.
2. The owners of the company, that's you, has the intention to pay
back the loan.
A business plan demonstrates that the company has the assets in
place to secure the loan if all else fails. It also shows that
you, as the owner, has the foresight to plan ahead. The business
plan gives the banker just about everything they need to know about
your company.
What should be included in a business plan? It's not a complicated
document to put together. You'll need an executive summary which
should be about two pages long and is just, as the title says, a
summary of your plan. Also included should be an overview of the
history of your company, its industry, the market, competitors, the
products, and marketing strategies. The business plan doesn't have
to be 300 pages long. As long as all the required information is
included it can be 10 to 15 pages in addition to the financial
statements.
The business plan also includes the historical financials for the
last three years and projected profit and loss statements, balance
sheet and cash flow projections for the next three years. If the
historical statements can be put together by your account so much
the better.
A banker would probably also want to see an aged listing of your
accounts receivable and payable. A list of your major accounts
would be appropriate as well.
Bankers use the information to learn about the company and the
principals. It also gives them documentation for the loan
committee to justify the loan, interest rates, and loan covenants.
Of course the bank won't use the business plan as the only
information and sole documentation but will verify it with outside
information, credit reports, a Dunn's report, and if necessary
onsite inspections.
The business plan also serves as a check point. Down the road the
banker can look at your current performance and compare it to
projected performance in the plan. If there are huge variances, an
explanation will be necessary.
Appearances count in a business plan. Have a few trusted advisors
read it for clarity; if they don't understand your plan, the banker
won't either. And what isn't understood doesn't get approved.
Triple check for spelling and grammatical errors, first impressions
count. Finally, even if you use a program for forecasting, check
the math, and check that any changes you've made in your
forecasting model are carried through to your narrative in the
plan. It's confusing to find one number for total sales in the
financial statements and another one in the narrative.
Have the plan copies on good paper. You can print on both sides of
the page if the paper is heavy enough in weight to stop the bleed
through to the other side. It's not necessary to use a gold
embossed leather binder, but do use a new binder.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I Discovered A Revolutionary Marketing System
I got into Internet Marketing haphazardly. I was sold a $10,000 dollar coaching program and it was like build a site and they will come. Have good content for SEO and Adsense and you will make money. I am so gullable, I believed them. I am now on my third coaching program and buy a new material weekly from this and that Guru. I had never really seen any return on my investment. Then I discovered the PPC Virus marketing system and was totaly blown away. A brilliant marketing system built by marketers for marketers. This revolutionary system has 22 streams of income and goes infinite levels wide and infinite levels deep. The earning potential is incredible, this is also known as Spider Web Markting, PPC Virus is another facet. I checked there are only 2 Adwords campigns for PPC Virus, what a great opportunity. I'm going to get a campaign up today. They give you the keywords and the ads. What could be easier.
PPC Virus is free to join, but in my opinion you want to get a domain for $10 bucks and invest in mobile banking and gain equity in the company. I did. Remember infinite levels wide and deep, just sign up a couple of people and you have all of your investment back. Go HERE
To your success
Linda
PPC Virus is free to join, but in my opinion you want to get a domain for $10 bucks and invest in mobile banking and gain equity in the company. I did. Remember infinite levels wide and deep, just sign up a couple of people and you have all of your investment back. Go HERE
To your success
Linda
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Cashing In On The Spike Part 3
I have been following Google trends and watching for keyword phrases that are spiking. I have noticed that it is easier since the Holidays are over. I have only used buzz words for blog post and not monetizing any of the spikes with Adwords. I am broke and need to rely more on organic methods. I am not getting a lot of traffic yet, but am making regular post. But really it is hard to make any money with Adsense anymore. I am moving on to the next technique.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Cashing In On The Spike Part 2
I have just implemented the second strategy to Cashing In On The Spike and have chosen a keyword and written my first Blog Post using Blogger. Here is the link to Linda's Hullabaloo
I chose a name where I could cash in on many hot keywords and titles. My concern is people won't be able to spell hullabaloo right. So it will be important to use social bookmarking. Now I have to drive traffic to boost my Adsense.
I chose a name where I could cash in on many hot keywords and titles. My concern is people won't be able to spell hullabaloo right. So it will be important to use social bookmarking. Now I have to drive traffic to boost my Adsense.
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