DSEF & FTC: Payday Mayday: Seek Alternatives to Costly Loans that Can Sink You

Today’s highlighted blog post from FTC/NCPW:

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Payday Mayday: Seek Alternatives to costly Loans that Can Sink You

The ads are everywhere — on the radio, television, the Internet, even in the mail. They refer to payday loans, cash advance loans, check advance loans, post-dated check loans, or deferred deposit loans. And their promises of quick cash to get out of a financial bind can be tempting to many.

For 13 years, the DSEF has been proud to partner with the FTC and other organizations to offer a wide array of education events and resources that encourage consumers nationwide to take full advantage of their rights and make better-informed decisions.

You’ll find a wealth of resources at www.ncpw.g ov that will help you protect your privacy, manage your money, learn more about credit and debt, decipher advertising messages, and steer clear of fraud and scams.

Please take a moment to share the resources on this Web site with others in your communities and companies and, together, we’ll help build a nation of better-informed and educated consumers.

Charles. L. Orr
Executive Director

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A Sales Pitch that Doesn’t Sound Like a Sales Pitch

In the past, sales pitches were intrusive and created to reach a wide population. Now, with the dominance of the internet, effective sales pitches cater to individual customers’ needs. They are not canned or contrived because the modern consumer can see right through it and has a wide variety of alternatives right at his or her fingertips. Here are a few ways to frame your sales pitches in such a way that it allows you to promote your products/services without sounding like a pushy sales pitch, and even encourage others to market your products/services for you.

Scavenger Hunt – This can be used to draw in new customers. Use promotional items (electronic or paper) to start a scavenger hunt for a special first-time customer gift. As an added convenience, you can create one totally online by taking your prospective clients on a guided tour of some relevant websites. Start by creating a theme that works with your business, like food, jewelry, or health & beauty products. Make sure the questions are easy to answer and that each item only takes a short time to find. At the end of the hunt, your would-be customer is rewarded with a special gift! You’ve now drawn them in to try your product, made it fun for them to share it with their friends, and you’ve promoted your business without the traditional sales pitch.
Giveaways – Many businesses offer free products or services for first-time customers, but usually some sort of purchase is necessary. Consider a giveaway that stands out from the rest: one that literally gives something away totally for free. Offer it for free for first-timers, and wow them with your quality and customer service. By doing so, you create a risk-free situation and promote your products/services through the giveaway without sounding like a sales pitch. You have now started a relationship and given them a reason to share it with their friends.
Referrals & Rewards – Not only do you want to draw in new customers, but you want to reward your loyal ones as well. Create and use a reward system for referrals that promotes your products/services. Whenever a new customer makes a purchase, all they have to do is mention the name of the person who referred them. That referrer then gets a special discount or promotional item. Word of mouth is an effective method for bringing in new customers, so motivate your current ones by showing them how much you appreciate their patronage and recommendations.

When creating a non-sales pitch sales pitch, remember to frame it in such a way that the promotion includes marketing your products/services. If done correctly, people should feel like you are talking about the promotion and not delivering a sales pitch. Make them simple and direct, but most importantly, be genuine in your interactions with prospective clients. They will appreciate your sincerity and your creative approach.

Please share your own ideas for a creative sales pitch in the comments below!

Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!

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DSEF & CBBB: Helping Small Business Owners Manage Credit Wisely

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

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Helping Small Business Owners Manage Credit Wisely

BBB and Capital One Managing Credit – Made Simpler Partnership to offer businesses tailored advice and easy-to-follow tips online for free

“Faced with the realities of the economic downturn, millions of small businesses have been forced to take a second look at their finances, including examining their spending habits and how they use credit,” said Stephen A. Cox, President and CEO, Council of Better Business Bureaus. “Regularly examining your business’s finances, including how and why you use credit, is important. BBB’s Managing Credit – Made Simpler provides easy-to-follow tips, checklists, and advice compiled to help small businesses better handle and successfully build their business’s credit record.”

DSEF and Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) fosters honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visitwww.bbb.org/us for more information.

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Using Clubs to Build Your Business

We all know that networking is an essential part of growing a business. Using clubs is a fun and effective way to network, develop relationships and build your business. For example, if you sell books, it would make great sense to start or join a book club. The goal is to gather likeminded people together, nurture relationships, and help increase business by using a social setting. Consider people in your target market, in your local community and current customers. Here are some club ideas to start or join.

Book clubs – If you’re an avid reader, finding a book club will be easy and fun. You’ll be interacting with people who share your interests and also building a rapport as you gather with them on a regular basis (most book clubs meet once or twice a month).
Exercise clubs – Whether you’re into running, yoga, swimming, or the like, start an in-home or join a fitness club. Running a business is bound to pile on the stress, so decompress with some physical activity. What better way to multitask then to exercise, share your opportunity and network simultaneously?
Moms clubs and/or playgroups – If you’re a parent of young children, this will benefit both you and them. Playgroups are usually informal get-togethers either at someone’s house or a recreation center where the children have unstructured playtime; they also allow for the parents to socialize with each other. For example, if you are a stay-at-home mom, you’ll be surrounding yourself with other moms in the same situation. It’s an effective way to learn about the interests of others and share your own personal and professional interests. For those that work outside the home during the day, many areas have playgroups that meet one evening a week. Try a website like Meetup or Craigslist to find what is locally available.
Scrapbooking/craft clubs – If you enjoy arts and crafts, consider taking up scrapbooking. You undoubtedly have a box of pictures somewhere that have never quite made it into an album, or perhaps you have hundreds of pictures still taking up space on your memory card. Find a scrap-a-thon in your community where you can network while participating in a fun activity. You’ll be able to share personal interests as you work with others who are displaying pictures of family and friends. Scrapbooking can be an easy way to break the ice and introduce yourself to others.

Whatever kind of club you choose to network and build your business, it is important that you keep it social and enjoyable. Your enthusiasm for the activity will help others get to know you, while you make new friends who may be able to help you in building your business. Joining clubs not only leads you to build relationships and increase your network, but it gets you and your business involved in the community. What are some of your ideas for using clubs to build your business? Share with us in the comments section below!

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Crowdsourcing for Your Small Business

Crowdsourcing is a relatively new idea that small businesses can use to solve a problem or improve their business. This process takes a task usually done by individuals to a group of people or community for their input. Here are some benefits and ideas to implement crowdsourcing for your business.

The benefits of Crowdsourcing:

The process helps you find out exactly what your local clientele wants and/or needs.
Provides you with a list of people who may be interested in your products/services or opportunity.
Provide a formal way to gather feedback from neighbors and clients that will help you tailor your products, services, marketing, and customer care to the very people who frequent your business.
Keeps your marketing cost down. Ask people who frequent your business in person, and utilize free websites like Craigslist that let you post to one of several different categories, depending on your needs. The website is also localized by city, so you can find people close by to provide input you need. Social networks like Facebook are also an efficient way of reaching more people quickly. Keep in mind, though, that you want to engage your target market and not the whole world.

Here are some disadvantages to keep in mind:

It may take you a long time to assess the quality of each submission.
The quality may not be professional.
It will take longer to screen candidates and assess the data.

Crowdsourcing initiatives:

Provide your community/network with voting ballots they can use to vote on their favorite products/services. This will help you assess your current product/services.
Run a poster contest that asks participants to create an image that best innovates one of your products/services or highlights a new one they would like to see. Then invite the rest of your community to vote on the ideas to select a winner. This can help you develop new products/services.
Ask your community to create and vote on a motto that promotes your branding. This will help you promote your brand and improve customer care.
Invite your community to submit and vote on a “how to” video for a product/service that you offer. This is a great way to generate videos of your products/services and provide visual testimonials at the same time.

When crowdsourcing, you must offer some sort of incentive like a voucher or discount for participating or a prize to a winner(s). You’re also showing that you value your community and customer opinions and appreciate the time they are taking to help you.

What are your thoughts on crowdsourcing? What have been your experiences with it? Share with us in the comments section below!

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DSEF & FTC: Out with the Old (Computer): How to do it Safely

Today’s highlighted blog post from FTC/NCPW:

December 28th, 2011 by Lisa

Did you get a new computer for the holidays? Wondering what to do with your old one?

Since computers often hold personal and financial information, the most important thing you can do is ensure that its hard drive doesn’t become a treasure chest for identity thieves.

For starters, you should understand how your hard drive works. When you save a file, especially a large one, it is scattered around the hard drive in bits and pieces. When you open a file, the hard drive gathers the bits and pieces and reconstructs them. And when you delete a file, the links to reconstruct the file disappear.

But the bits and pieces of the deleted file stay on your computer until they’re overwritten, and they can be retrieved with a data recovery program. To remove data from a hard drive permanently, the hard drive on your discarded computer needs to be wiped clean.

OnGuard Online.gov has great information on how to clean your hard drive and dispose of your computer to help avoid identity theft. Click on this link to find out more.

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How To Find a Mentor and Be a Mentor To Others

The mentor-protégé relationship is one that has a great deal of value in the small business world. It should be a mutually beneficial relationship, so both finding a mentor and becoming one require knowledge and responsibility. Here is a how-to guide for finding a mentor who can help you succeed in your business, as well as what it takes to become an effective mentor to someone just starting out.

Finding a Mentor

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers a variety of resources, which are readily available on its website. Additionally, the SBA also partners with SCORE, a “nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide.” Their website is also chock full of information to help you get started.
Decide what you want. Identify what exactly you wish to be the result of the relationship. Do you want an expert in marketing? Someone well-connected who can help you network with others in the field? A good listener who has been where you are in business? Figuring out the qualities you want in a mentor will help you narrow your search tremendously.
Look in the right places. There’s nothing wrong with starting your search with your family and friends who may have the expertise you’re looking for. Outside of that circle, you may find an effective mentor in a former boss, at a professional development workshop, or trade show. Your extended network of contacts may contain just the person you need.
Reach out to your industry. If you haven’t found a mentor in your immediate or extended network, consider contacting your local chamber of commerce or the business editor of the local newspaper. Chances are that you will find a large group of knowledgeable people right in your own backyard.
Seek recommendations. Just as if you were hiring a landscaper or finding a good dentist, ask others in your field for recommendations about potential mentors. Get some information about the person’s business background and experience, and come up with a list of questions you would ask about what he or she can offer. You may even arrange a phone interview to see if this person would fit your needs.

Being a Mentor

Ask questions. When taking on a protégé, it must be clear to both parties what is expected of each other. The protégé should be asking questions, but as a potential mentor, you should come to the table with questions as well, such as those about the person’s business education, relevant experience in the field, and long-term goals. This will help you focus your efforts and create a plan of action for your protégé.
Be a coach. Help your protégé create a positive and supportive environment. Instead of pointing out faults teach your protégé to identify problems and to develop a plan to overcome them. Coach your protégé to be self-reliant and goal oriented.
Set a timeline. As the mentor, you may have a better idea as to how long it might take to reach whatever goals have been agreed upon. Will you be mentoring this person for six months? A year? How often will you meet over the course of the relationship? Make sure that you both are comfortable with the time parameters of the arrangement and decide whether or not you are flexible should someone’s needs change.
Make yourself accessible. If you are making the commitment to mentor someone, you should be available to them in a reasonable fashion. Aside from meeting at regular intervals and perhaps touching base via email or phone in between, your protégé should feel comfortable contacting you at other times if necessary.

Tell us about your own mentoring relationships in the comments section below.

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Small Business Easy Low Cost Marketing

Although marketing is essential to your business, it’s easy to spend too much of your hard-earned money on strategies that return very little. In order to get the most bang for your marketing buck, you should find low-cost or even free ways to reach your local demographic. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Sponsoring story time at a local library and other community workshops. Most libraries have at least one, if not several, story groups for children of varying ages. Offer to sponsor one by providing the refreshments, or even by being a guest reader. In doing so, you will be able to network with potential customers, the children’s parents. You could base your time at the library around a theme that is relevant to your business and provide samples that include your business card. For example, a private children’s instrumental music instructor would read a book about a certain instrument, bring some different mouthpieces or small instruments for children to try out, and talk about what is offered at his or her studio with parents.
Form connections to local businesses. By teaming up with local businesses, you can pool your resources together to draw in customers that would be able to use both of your services. The owner of a hair salon could team up with the dress shop down the street. Come prom season, each business could recommend the other and offer discounts if a customer uses both services. To go even further, connecting to a local business would allow you to sponsor joint marketing events, like sidewalk sales or craft fairs.
Create an e-newsletter or start a blog. To make the ever-increasing cost of postage and mailing supplies a non-issue, you may want to develop a monthly newsletter to send out via email. Collect the email addresses of your past customers, and with their permission, send out a newsletter that highlights information about products or services they have recently purchased, and introduce new products as well. You can even make it more relevant by choosing some frequently asked questions to answer in each issue. As an extra incentive for subscribing to the e-newsletter, consider offering a coupon or voucher in each issue.
Use your vehicle as a promotional tool. Decals for your car that contain your business’s name, phone number, website URL, and slogan can be found at affordable prices, especially online. Think of how many people see your vehicle, especially if you live in a congested area where there is a good deal of traffic. That level of exposure is constant after the initial cost, which doesn’t have to be much.
Ask customers how they found you. Keep track of how new customers are hearing about you. This will give you accurate information about which of your marketing tools is most effective. From here, you can decide where to focus your efforts and your money.

As a small business owner or direct seller, your marketing campaigns must reach the largest amount of potentially interested people at the lowest cost possible to you. What strategies have you used to market your business in affordable ways? Please leave a comment below!

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DSEF & CBBB: My Experience With Multi-Level Marketing

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

My Experience With Multi-Level Marketing

By Holly Doering

When I was a little girl, my mom stayed at home to look after us kids while my dad worked. That was just what women did. Especially in a small Idaho town with a limited job market. One day my mother brought home a trunk of cosmetics: almond face lotion, peppermint foot rub. There was even something called “Royal bee jelly”—I think—that was thick and soft but not greasy. The company was called “JAFRA”—Jan and Frank were the owners—and all Mom had to do to make money was to host parties and invite her women friends.

What happened next was what often happens—Mom threw a few parties, went to a few parties, and then the creams and lotions sat in the cupboard for the next decade. (They were really good products though!)

In college, I worked for a fast-food franchise owner who was big into Amway. She bought all their cleaning products for the restaurant. She was convinced that this company was her ticket to early retirement and possibly multi-millionaire-dom. As far as I know, she’s still trying to become a Diamond.

The BBB sometimes gets calls about multi-level marketing (MLM) opportunities. Are they scams? While any particular scenario could be a scam, the short answer is no. MLM is a legitimate business model that has made certain individuals extremely wealthy. However, it isn’t easy.

Many people who get into network marketing don’t have the personality or the tenacity to make a go of it. They chicken out of making cold calls or meeting strangers at Perkins. They don’t want to invest all the time into their home business that would be necessary for it to succeed. Or, they get divorced and end up splitting their downlines.

You see, I worked for a network marketing company for a few years. But not as a distributor—I stayed with a steady paycheck from the corporate offices. It was there that I met a company executive who had gone from abysmal failure—sleeping in his car—to becoming a millionaire with these MLM products. And when he did, his sponsor, the man who recruited him, became a multi-millionaire.

I chose this particular MLM company to work for because their products:

Were environmentally-friendly
Were not tested on animals
Were not significantly more expensive than items in the store
Were something I could believe in

Here are some tips on how to research a MLM company and make sure it’s right for you. Think about:

How transparent is the company? Are you getting real answers to your questions, and not just the run-around or a company line? Do they disclose their financials?
Has the company been around for awhile? (The longer, the better.)
What is the initial investment?
Who will support you? Does your sponsor seem like they will actively coach you and have time for you? Can you meet other people in this person’s downline?
How are refunds—to you and to your customers, clients, prosumers, or whatever they call them—handled? How do they deal with complaints?
Is their technology easy to use or is it kind of a pain?
What is the competition?
Are they aware of or do they subscribe to the Direct Selling Association (DSA) Code of Ethics?

Final thoughts

1) Remember that pyramid schemes, which can look like MLM to begin with, are not legitimate. A genuine MLM opportunity involves product and is not simply mailing cash back and forth.

2) You may not want to make your living from your MLM business—I’ve been to plenty of Cabi, Partylite, Avon, and Pampered Chef parties hosted by friends who just wanted to get these products that they liked discounted or cheaper. Even so, do your homework first. You won’t be sorry you did.

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Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

The proverbial comfort zone: it is what prevents us from pursuing our dreams and achieving our goals. The good news is that your zone isn’t a jail cell, but instead a place that you’ve created over time. Because of this, you are free to leave anytime, but you have to be ready. Below is a step-by-step guide to breaking out of your comfort zone and growing your business.

Understand the return on investment (ROI) in stepping out of your comfort zone. Some of these benefits include standing out in a crowd, overcoming your fear, trying new things, and learning more. Imagine what these benefits can do for your business.
Identify someone in your field that you look up to and admire. List that person’s qualities and accomplishments. Cross out the ones that you have in common. From the items that remain, rank them in order of importance to you. You now have a set of objectives to start on, so take them one step at a time. What can you do right now to begin to achieve the first one on your list?
Put all your cards on the table. Fear is the most powerful emotion, so assess what you are afraid of that has prevented your business growth. Pledge to yourself to jump in head first. For example, if the idea of public speaking makes you want to run for the hills, call your local library and set up a workshop. The venue is small, but will force you to face your fear and make it easier to do again.
Expect and embrace change. The nature of our comfort zones is that they are predictable. Even if what you are doing on a regular basis is making you money, you may be leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t try something new. Adjust your mindset to one that willingly accepts change because stepping out of your comfort zone will bring about a great deal of it.
Visualize yourself doing it. Whatever it may be that you are afraid of doing, close your eyes for a few minutes and picture yourself doing it successfully. The mind is a very powerful thing, and by continually focusing yourself toward the positive, you will be more likely to achieve your goals.
Work backwards. When developing a plan of action, pinpoint your endgame first. When you have an outcome in mind, your actions will be more specific and effective. Furthermore, you will be better able to stay motivated while working toward that end.

What advice do you have about leaving your comfort zone? Please share your suggestions with us in the comment section below.

All posts tagged home-based business

DSEF & FTC: Payday Mayday: Seek Alternatives to Costly Loans that Can Sink You

DSEF & FTC: Payday Mayday: Seek Alternatives to Costly Loans that Can Sink You

A Sales Pitch that Doesn’t Sound Like a Sales Pitch

A Sales Pitch that Doesn’t Sound Like a Sales Pitch

DSEF & CBBB: Helping Small Business Owners Manage Credit Wisely

DSEF & CBBB: Helping Small Business Owners Manage Credit Wisely

Helping Small Business Owners Manage Credit Wisely

Using Clubs to Build Your Business

Using Clubs to Build Your Business

Crowdsourcing for Your Small Business

Crowdsourcing for Your Small Business

DSEF & FTC: Out with the Old (Computer): How to do it Safely

DSEF & FTC: Out with the Old (Computer): How to do it Safely

How To Find a Mentor and Be a Mentor To Others

How To Find a Mentor and Be a Mentor To Others

Small Business Easy Low Cost Marketing

Small Business Easy Low Cost Marketing

DSEF & CBBB: My Experience With Multi-Level Marketing

DSEF & CBBB: My Experience With Multi-Level Marketing

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

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