Archive for June, 2008

The Small Business Marketing Secret You Can Learn In The Cereal Aisle

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

By Jimmy Vee Have you walked down the cereal aisle lately? There is a lot you can learn from sitting surrounded by the boxes and bags of artificially sweated corn, rice and wheat for a few minutes observing marketing in action. If you look closely, you will see solid marketing, the result of leading experts. Just visiting your local grocery stores cereal aisle is like attending masters level seminar in marketing. Youre probably thinking that all the sugar has made us crazy but I assure you - were not. Heres why the cereal aisle in your local grocery store influences how your potential customers choose your business over your competitors or why they dont! Take yourself back in time to a day where you were riding in the back of a shopping cart. Youre crouched down, hanging out over the side, grabbing at a world of marvelous packages, boxes and bags as they move by you just out of reach. Youre mom is wisely pushing the cart just far enough away from the shelves to keep your grubby-little-paws from reaching their contents. Finally you can sense it. You are getting so close to the Holy Land! THE CEREAL AISLE IS NEXT!! This is what youve been waiting for. This makes the trip all worth it. This is your reason for living. This is what you know you were put here to do. You get to pick the cereal for the week. By now you are a master at this. Youve done it so many times. You know what youre going to pick. You just need to be let loose. So what makes the choice so obvious? You havent tasted all the cereals on the shelf. In fact, you havent tasted even a small fraction of them, some you havent even shaken, looked at or even picked up. But you know which one you will pick in a single instant. Which one??? Whats the name of the cereal you are going to pick? The name?? The name of the cereal doesnt really matter. It doesnt matter because you dont make a decision on which to buy based on the name or the contents or what it tastes like. You buy based on which one has the best offer or the newest, hottest toy The free prize, the bonus. Thats what youre after. Its the buried treasure youve been searching for! Now, lets get back to the present. I know you are thinking thats what kids do when they pick breakfast cereal and not what my prospects do when they chose my business or my competitors. Wrong The decision making process was created, refined and sharpened right then in the cereal aisle all those years ago and continues to be used to this day you just dont realize it. Your prospects pick you over your competition based NOT on how good you are. A better mouse trap does not mean more business and if you think it does you are destined to fail. Dont get us wrong, we feel having a superior, scendsational product that exceeds expectations is a MUST but it is not what gets new customers. What gets new and more customers is the bonus, the free prize, whats new. People are always interested in what is new, because with new, brings possibilities, solutions and opportunity. No one is interested in reading yesterdays newspaper. You have to constantly be coming up with new stuff for your customers and prospects. It doesnt have to be revolutionary changes little things work. Let us go back to the cereal example. Cereal companies stimulate tons of sales just by changing the color of a marshmallow or adding a new one. They change the color of the box or put a clever game or offer attached to buying it. Its so easy and so effective and so vital, but so often missed. Do you see the opportunity in that last statement? As long as you are not in the cereal business you have a major advantage if you just do this one simple thing. Jim and Travis are the authors of The Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Advertising That Cost You Tons and their newest release, The Small Business Owners Guide To The Galaxy: Jim & Traviss Super-Stellar, Out Of This World, Step-By-Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers and Making Sales. Get FREE small business marketing tips, shortcuts and secrets - RIGHT NOW - at http://www.GravitationalMarketing.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jimmy_Vee http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Small-Business-Marketing-Secret-You-Can-Learn-In-The-Cereal-Aisle&id=91671 bad credit personal loans bad credit personal loans 3000 bad credit loan sell house fast cash how to get a car loan with bad credit

How to Apply for a Loan

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bacak]Matt Bacak The process of applying for a business loan is a stringent one as compared to the standard procedures in obtaining a home mortgage loan or a personal loan. This is probably due to the fact that business loans contain a greater risk element as compared to other loans. Therefore, lenders need to exercise greater caution and emphasis when evaluating business loan applications in order to minimize their risk exposure. With that, lenders evaluate their applicants based on the information that are provided as well as their judgment of the viability and profitability of the business being financed. Thus, business loan applicants will be required to submit a loan proposal along with their applications with the purpose of creating a positive impression upon the lender. The first element of a loan proposal is an executive summary, providing short descriptions of the type of business and the industry, the purpose and usage of the loan, the proposed repayment conditions as well as the intended loan period. After that, the company information is provided, enriching the reader with the nature of the business, the location of the business, company history, the products or services provided, key differentiation factors of the company or the product, the general growth of the industry, competitive information, growth potential and target customers. It would help if you could include your company marketing strategy, detailed product information, historical information as well as projected growth plans for the company. Apart from that, if you plan to incorporate product or service extensions in the future, you should provide these descriptions within your loan proposal. If possible, geographical expansion plans will help in the proposal. The next area that needs to be showcased in the proposal would be the credentials and experience of each member of the management team. Impressive credentials will provide assurance to the lender that the company is managed by individuals who are responsible and capable. This is important as having the wrong people managing the company could be detrimental for the business. In any loan application, historical records are essential to be used in evaluating the performance of a company. As new companies do not yet have these records, the financial records of the owners will be used as the basis of evaluation. Income tax returns forms are also required by lenders. All of these records provided should be the latest copies less than 90 days old, with the exception of the income tax returns form. If the loan is applied for an existing company in active operations, company financial statements, including profit and loss accounts, balance sheets and the net worth reconciliation record should be included in the loan proposal. Again, all of this information should also be the latest and less than 90 days old. Additionally, a listing of accounts receivables and other short term and long term debt should be attached. On the other hand, if the loan application is submitted for a new business, a pro-forma balance sheet and profit and loss account should be provided. Apart from that, a cash flow projection for the upcoming year is drafted to indicate the possibility of recovering the debt. This also means that projected revenue, profits, costs incurred and expenditure should be listed out with definite explanations provided as well as a list of assumptions. If you possess assets that you wish to use as collateral for your loan, details for this should be provided to the lender as well. It is often common for lenders to request for dual sources of repayment in the event that one source is defaulted. This means that if the business owner defaults on his repayments, the collateral can be sold in order to recover debt. Finally, other documents normally required for a loan application would be items like the article of incorporation, lease agreements, partnership agreements, license, references, etc. As the list of required documentation, information and attachments differs between lenders, it is best to check with the individual lender on their specific information and documents required to be attached with the loan proposal. Matt Bacak became “#1 Best Selling Author” in just a few short hours.Recent Entrepreneur Magazines e-Biz radio show host isturning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories.Discover The Secrets To Unleash The Powerful Promoter In You! Sign upfor Matt Bacak’s Promoting Tips Ezine ($100 value) just visit hiswebsite at http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or http://promotingtips.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bacak http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Apply-for-a-Loan&id=114791 us secured personal loans people bad credit 1500 bad credit loan unsecure personal loan australia advance cash faxless immediately loan payday wired

Read This Article If You Enjoy Eating

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

By Timothy Ward I’d like to start today by asking everyone who enjoys eating to raise his/her hand. That’s it? Come on, I know more of you love eating than that. Don’t be shy. If you love stuffing your face with sweets and junk food until you look like a squirrel hording food for the winter, throw your hand up. If you live for all-you-can-eat rib night at Billy’s Arcade & BBQ, throw your hand up. If your midnight snack lasts 2 hours and includes more than one course, put your hand in the air and wave it like you just don’t care. I’m not here to judge anyone today, I just want to know where my food lovers are. That’s much better! I’m seeing a lot more hands in the air now. There’s still a gentleman in the rear who, judging from his bodily proportions, looks to be a regular at the Shoney’s All Day-Everyday Buffet whose hand is not up, but if he doesn’t feel comfortable participating then he doesn’t have too. Or maybe he’s just to full to move. Whatever the case I’m glad most of you decided to play along. You may now put your hands down. We have established that almost everyone here today loves eating. This is no big surprise. Since our bodies need nourishment to continue functioning, logically the best way to keep us eating is make the process enjoyable. Whether you believe a Supreme Being made us this way or you believe we evolved this way over time is a matter of personal opinion. I am not about to get involved in that discussion. I didn’t bring my riot gear with me today, and quite frankly, I tend to giggle uncontrollably every time someone arguing for evolution uses the term ‘Homo Erectus’. So we’ll just agree that eating is necessary and enjoyable. A win-win situation. At least for those of us fortunate enough to have access to appropriate amounts of food on a daily basis. We don’t always like to think about it but people starve to death everyday. Millions of people the world over are hungry and don’t know if they will ever eat again. Let’s take a moment to let that sink in. There are people who don’t know if they will eat another morsel of food-EVER. Whole families with nothing to eat, lying around waiting to die. Many of them wanting to die because of the intensity of the hunger pains. Any of us who have ever went half a day without eating know how miserable it feels to be hungry. Now imagine going days-even weeks-without eating. Or worse imagine watching your children writhe around in pain from hunger. Imagine the powerlessness these parents must feel. It’s truly a horrible thought and an even more horrible reality. Any of us fortunate enough to be born in a land where food is plentiful and readily available have an obligation to help our hungry fellowman. This doesn’t always take money. A simple prayer at night for all the world’s hungry costs nothing and can work wonders. The Internet is home to countless websites that allow you to donate food simply by visiting other websites or clicking on banners. Volunteering for local charities that help feed the hungry in your own area is a great way to help out and get some self-fulfillment. If you do have a little money to spare there are numerous charities that you can donate to that are not scams and really do help feed the world’s hungry. Whatever the method you decide to use remember that the starving citizens of our planet appreciate your sacrifice. Your time or money may make the difference in their or their children’s life. So please join the fight against hunger. You can make a difference. About The Author Timothy Ward asks you to help fight hunger by visiting http://timothyward.netfirms.com/help_fight_hunger.html and taking a few moments to donate cups of food to the hungry for free. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Timothy_Ward http://EzineArticles.com/?Read-This-Article-If-You-Enjoy-Eating&id=232697 central payday advance buy appliances utah county monthly payments no credit check dc bad credit loan instructions for the parker brothers game payday