Go Big Always HomepageGo Big Always

Life Tips for Personal, Financial and Business Growth

Maxwell

by

Marketing To the Client’s Sense of Time

There are infinite ways to approach the concept of digital marketing. And regardless of your industry, you have to figure out which of those ways gives you the best return on your investment. You’re always aiming for the most significant net present value of any project, and that is especially true when it comes to promotions and advertising. So one of the ways that you can approach your next advertising push is to market to your client’s sense of time.

There are a few ways you can do this. You can tell them that I’m benefits of proper shipping as your company does it. You can convert them into your sales funnel in a way that suggests immediacy is valuable. Or, you can figure out their cultural background. Instead of applying your sense of time to them, you can adjust your advertising and promotions to mix with what fits them and their demographic, especially if they come from a different background than you.

Benefits of Proper Shipping

One of the big time wasters in any operation comes from shipping. If you concentrate on freight loading and unloading, you can benefit from more efficient turn-around times to your clients. If you’re trying to sell your product or service as competitively advantageous, then tight shipping times are enormous. All other things being equal, if you can get what you are selling to your client quicker, that means you get paid faster, and that means your client is happier because they have their resources on hand sooner.

The Immediacy of the Sales Funnel

Once you’ve established your sales funnel, there are many different ways to Institute it up and down your management chain of command. If you specifically look to improve your sense of immediacy in the funnel, that bodes well for converting clients from one stage to the next. There are a few different ways to use time in this regard. One of the easiest ones is to mention that a certain deal will only be available for a specific time. That will trigger a potential client’s sense of needing to make a decision sooner rather than later.

Respecting Different Cultures

Different cultures have different values when it comes to time. For example, Americans tend to be obsessive about being on time. If you know you are selling to someone who is part of the American culture, make that part of your marketing plan. However, people in certain European countries are much more apt to want to feel relaxed about deadlines. If you know that there is this discrepancy in advance, you can shift your marketing plan to create much more flexible time schedules, and that will create a better bond between you and your client.

by

4 Ways To Make Your Home Sell Faster

Some people assume that selling a home is as easy as putting it on the market. However, it’s not as simple as you might like to think. There are all sorts of factors that can lead to your home staying on the market. The longer it stays on the market, the harder it will get to sell it. So, how do you get your home sold to a buyer as fast as possible?

Take a look at some of the most practical tips for selling your home as fast as you can.

Take Care Of Problem Areas

Before you put your home on the market, it’s important that you address any issues that could push potential buyers away. Whether there is a pest infestation, or a leak in the roof, the sooner that you get rid of problems, the sooner the buyers will be interested.

Rarely do buyers want to buy a home that will require a considerable amount of work. Make things as easy as possible for someone purchasing your home, and they’ll be much more likely to buy from you.

Get an Agent

Many people trying to sell a home may avoid getting a real estate agent because they don’t want to pay a commission. However, a real estate agent is one of the best tools you can have for increasing your chances of a faster sale.

A real estate agent will know exactly what it is that you need to do to make your home sell quickly. From helping you get your home appraised to helping you choose the best selling price. Choosing a real estate agent who knows what they’re doing is probably the best favor that you can do for yourself in terms of selling quickly.

Pull Out The Paint

It’s a good idea to slap a new coat of paint on your house to give it a fresh breath of air. If you’re not sure what color to paint your house, consider consulting with your real estate agent. They might know what a great color is that tends to sell faster. In general, darker colors aren’t as appealing. Go for a light and airy, and you’ll immediately make your home feel newer.

Boost Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is what makes your home appealing to someone walking down the street. It should be the first thing that catches a buyer’s eye when they see your home from the outside. The better curb appeal that your home has, the more likely that you are to appeal to buyers. You can try anything from painting your front door to adding fresh flowers. It’s all about giving your home a little extra pizzazz.

by

Tips For Starting Your Own Business

Starting a business is a dream for many, but only the few who really know how to traverse the choppy waters of the business industry actually survive the cut. If you want a better shot at success, it pays to invest in some detailed research.

Before you jump into setting up your new business, learn what it takes to properly manage and sustain that business. Here is a quick starter collection of a few foundational tips for starting your own business. Take some notes, and dig in today.

Gain control of your finances

You don’t want to try to start a business without first gaining full control of your personal finances. Work to pay down any existing debts on record, and boost your financial standings on paper.

Learn to use special digital financial tools to calculate various recurring expenses in your life, so you know exactly what you have to work with before taking on a business.

Once you become a business owner, you will need to know how to control and manage money with ease. Start by using your own finances to hone your skills.

Focus on the development of your business plan

Work to develop a very detailed business plan. You need to know what’s coming as you go through the process of starting your own operation, and working through a detailed business plan will help you come up with a better idea of the hurdles and adventures that lie ahead.

If you’re not even sure how to begin writing up a business plan, dig up some sample templates online. Use the resources you have at your fingertips to hone your knowledge of becoming a business owner.

Research the market and possible competitors

Once you have an idea where you want to go with your business venture, you need to take time to thoroughly research the market in which you’ll be competing. While you’re at it, research the most significant competitors you’ll be up against as well.

Know your operational needs in advance

It’s important to know what it will take to actually put your business plans into action. What do you truly need to be up and operational? Do you need a staff member? Do you need an office space? What will it take to produce your products?

What services will your business offer, and what will it cost your business to provide these things? All these questions are just scratching the surface of the many variables you need to consider before launching your new business.

Consider how you will manage your operation

You may want to start a completely remote business operation, and the management duties of such an operation are quite different than running a brick and mortar location. You’ll want to map out these variations before you begin structuring your future business.

by

Respect: As important as Any Employee Benefit

Employee benefits are often viewed as the difference between hiring and retaining top talent or watching the best in the business take jobs elsewhere. Benefits are important, but they only make up one aspect of what companies can do to maintain long-term relationships with their employees. Unfortunately, there are many intangibles that are difficult to quantify.

Respect is one such intangible. It is no less important than any of the tangible benefits that made BenefitMall’s list of 5 Benefit Trends to Watch in 2020. You can even make the case that respect is more important than things like employee wellness programs and student loan reduction benefits.

It all boils down to how employees are treated. Do managers treat employees like human beings with thoughts, emotions, and worthwhile contributions? Or are employees treated like nothing more than human resources little different from any other resources?

The Retail Example

The need for respect knows no industry boundaries. A lack thereof manifests itself differently from one industry to the next. In retail, the effects are observed in the industry’s turnover rate. According to the Society for Human Resources Management, turnover in the retail sector is in excess of 60%.

That means six in every 10 retail employees will not stick around for even a year. This creates a nightmare for managers who are constantly having to hire and train new team members. Wouldn’t it be better to work on retaining employees instead? Of course it would. But before an organization can do so, it has to admit why turnover is so high.

Among the many complaints voiced by retail employees is inconsistent scheduling. Employee schedules change from one week to the next, making it nearly impossible for them to schedule any other area of life. Inconsistent scheduling makes childcare a nightmare, for example.

Inconsistent scheduling shows a lack of respect for employees as human beings with lives outside of work. Employees know it. They know that if management doesn’t respect their schedules, the boss is unlikely to show the respect anywhere else.

When Customers Get Abusive

Another big complaint among retail workers rests in management unwilling to support them when customers become abusive. Unfortunately, 50 years of the ‘customer is always right’ mentality has given rise to a new generation of consumers who believe it is their right to abuse retail employees.

When management steps up and backs the employee, it shows the employee a measure of respect. The opposite is also true. When managers take the side of abusive customers on the false notion that customers can never be wrong, they show a clear lack of respect for employees.

A Two-Way Street

There are other ways a lack of respect manifests itself in the workplace. What must be understood is that respect is a two-way street. Management has a reasonable expectation that employees will show them the proper respect. This is right and just. But holding a management position does not give one license to treat subordinates with disrespect.

We often say that respect is earned rather than given. If managers expect team members to earn their respect through hard work, reliance, etc., they should expect no less from themselves. They should earn the respect of their employees by treating them well.

Health insurance is a great employee benefit. A retirement plan can go a long way toward securing an employee’s future. Equally important to all those tangible benefits are the intangibles like respect. Companies that do not show their employees even a basic amount of respect should plan on high turnover rates. That is the way the world works.

 

by

5 Tips to Knowing How Much Money You Should Keep in Your Checking Account

You may have heard the expression “save for a rainy day,” and you certainly should. But how much should you be saving, and how much of that money should you be keeping in your checking account?

Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to keep your savings and your checking separate. After all, you don’t want to be tempted to spend the money that you’ve worked so hard saving on a frivolous impulse buy. But at the same time, you should keep a little extra on hand in your checking account. This will help you avoid overdraft fees, for instance, if you make a mistake and draw too much from your account.

So what’s the right amount? Well, that depends on a few things. Here are our five tips for knowing how much money you should keep in your checking account.

1. Maintain the Required Minimum Balance

Some checking accounts have minimum balance requirements. Before signing up for an account, check with your financial advisor to see what, if any, requirements are associated with the account. The minimum amount required often varies based on the financial institution and the particular type of account you have.

For instance, Rivermark Community Credit Union offers a Free Checking Plus account with a minimum opening balance of $25. Once your account is funded with the opening deposit, however, there are no further minimum balance requirements. If you do have a checking account with a minimum balance requirement, you should make sure you always have at least that amount in your checking account to avoid any penalties or fees.

2. Calculate Your Monthly Bills

Once you’ve made sure that you have enough money to cover any minimum balance requirements, make sure you have enough in your account to cover your monthly bill payments. Many people use the auto-deduct option for payments such as rent, utilities, and debt obligations, such as credit cards or student loans. Using auto deduct not only ensures your bills get paid on time, but you may also get an interest rate deduction by using this option.

This can save you quite a bit of money over time. But only if you have enough money in your account to cover these bills. If you forget you’re signed up for auto deduct and you don’t have enough money in your account to cover the payments, then you’ll likely incur late or overdraft fees. That’s why you should add up your monthly bills and always keep enough money in your checking account to cover the total.

3. Account for Monthly Expenses

Once you know how much you’re spending on your monthly bills, you’ll also want to add up how much money you need for other monthly expenses. For instance, you probably use your checking account to pay for things like gas, groceries, and other basic living expenses.

If you have a monthly budget, great. You can use that to know how much you spend in an average month. If you don’t have a monthly budget, now is a good time to sit down and create one. This free budget worksheet from Consumer.gov is a good place to start.

You can look at your checking account for the past few months and total up how much you’re spending on food, gas, entertainment, and any other regular expenses. Then create a budget with categories for these things, as well as for your monthly bills. Assign a maximum spending amount for each category in your budget and then add up all these amounts. This is how much money you’ll need each month to cover all your expenses.

If you see that you’re spending more than you’re making, you may need to cut back in certain areas. Your financial advisor can help you do that. Once you know how much money you need to cover all your average monthly expenses, you should aim to keep that total amount in your checking account.

4. Add a Little Extra

Remember that your budget is based on an average month. There will always be some months when you spend a little extra. You could have a water leak, for instance, that may cause your water bill to be higher one month. Or you may have certain expenses that only come around once or twice a year, like property taxes or membership fees. You’ll want to account for these extra expenses as well and add them to your overall monthly budget amount. If you have an annual expense, divide that amount by 12 and add that amount into your monthly budget.

Once you have a new monthly budget that accounts for all your annual expenses, add at least 10% to the total monthly budget amount so that you can cover unexpected expenses without having to dip into your savings.

5. Put Your Savings Elsewhere

In general, you should plan to keep a full month’s worth of expenses plus 10% extra in your checking account at all times. It may be tempting to keep more money in your checking account. However, you should set any extra aside in a separate savings account. As we mentioned before, this will help you avoid the temptation to spend the extra cash and will help you save for bigger-budget items, such as a vacation, car, or new home.

Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Wouldn’t it be nice to instead have enough cash in your checking account to use the money from this month’s paychecks for next month’s expenses? Doing that will keep you one step ahead of the game. It may take some time and work to get to that place, but we can help. Our financial advisors can come up with a plan to help you find extra savings, cut back on your spending, and plan for the future. So give us a call and we can put you on the path toward future financial success right now.