The Money Lab

Giving business cards is an art, not only because they are needed to be considered successful or because, in fact, they represent your corporate or professional identity, but also as an opportunity to impact your existing or prospective customers, and stay in touch with them, helping you to deal confidently. The scope of business etiquette includes considerations that many professional ignore, or simply do not pay enough attention in the belief that a business card is just a small paper rectangle with a name and phone numbers to introduce yourself.  Color business cards demonstrate that there is something else beyond a simple paper cut; otherwise, they simply would not exist. Certainly, all over the world business cards are used to provide information about a company and/or the employee or professional who holds it, as well as contact information and other details such as business acquaintances or personal details. Some of them include expressly empty spaces to write certain detail...

As the name suggests, MLM (Multi-Level-Marketing), basically involves selling a company’s product directly to the customer by way of networking. Traditional retail selling is left to the brick and mortor businesses. MLM is executed through a multi-layered distributor system where payments by the company are made to the distributors according to the distribution level they are in. Distributors are responsible for the business development and the revenue generation for the company.  The products sold are those that are used daily. Generally MLM is done by the companies that are offering products of regular use, such as, soaps, detergents, car wash, containers and cosmetics. This is not an exhaustive list, it's merely a sample. The convenience of shopping is another strong feature of MLM. Generally, MLM supports online shopping and at times even people network makes the shopping process easy. The distributor goes to the customer’s house, workplace or wherever it's convenient to bo...

Which one will you be in network marketing? The truth is the odds are against you; chances are you’ll be a statistic. Hmmmmm bet the super star space commander upline guru that signed you up or wants to sign you up told you that did he/she?  Here are a few stats that may alarm you: Did you know that 70,000 people sign up into a network marketing company EVERYDAY?  But did you know that 95% of the people that sign up into a network marketing company will quit within the first year? WHY? Well there are a lot or reasons, poor support, poor company, poor product, poor compensation plan, poor upline. But to me one of the biggest reasons is… PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LIED TO!! Most people have been lied to from the get go. Many of the people who are recruiting people into companies (hate that term recruiting) are lying to people and telling people what they want to hear so they will join their company. Now on one had you can’t blame many of these people, there’re just doing what they were ta...

Networking is obviously an essential part of network marketing. Every successful network marketer knows this to be true. Although networking is such an intricate part of network marketing, the two terms are not synonymous. However there are many similarities.  Both rely heavily on people skills. Both require people to confront their fear of talking to other people. Both carry with them the risk of rejection. Both also carry with them enormous opportunity. And to some people, both are considered dirty words.  Of course people that consider networking as something that is 'not done' don't understand what networking is really about. The same can be said of people that think network marketing is something that is beneath them. Many people think of networking as a way to get connected solely for their own advancement in life. In that respect a person might feel that it is unethical or not noble to network.  This line of thinking stems from the idea that advancement will always...

 - Hustle: Generally, people who make it big have one thing in common—they are dissatisfied with the status quo. They will not take what is “common” or “expected” and let that define their lives—they move past it and excel. You must work hard and hustle. - Character: Someone coined the phrase, “character is what you do in the dark.” In other words, when no one is looking, will you behave differently than if someone was looking? If not, then you have character. If you are attacked, be tough—not hard. Don’t be a pushover, but be compassionate, gentle, and flexible—especially on procedure (not principle). - Risk Taking: This isn’t gambling, it’s a willingness to be bold, hearty, and to push forward. People who refuse to take risks are definitely going to lose. If you refuse a new promotion because you’re not confident of your skills, you will likely be passed over when a different chance arrives. Don’t be afraid of rejection, just take it as part of life and you’ll find there’s nothin...

Well talking about flyers, compare to other advertising tool such as posters, banners, catalogs, booklets, etc. a flyer is also one of the great way to communicate.  In a sense that you can send flyers through mail, you can post flyers in strategic locations, you can give a copy of your flyer for every customer who walks in and walks out in your business establishment or you can hand out a flyer to the passing customers, and if you are really determined, you can get some volunteers to pass some out of your flyers at the local mall or shopping area. You can easily spread them around. The good thing about these flyers is that they are a quick and easy tool for relaying information to your target consumer. Not only that, a single flyer is easy to create and inexpensive to produce. For those who do not know what a flyer is, a flyer is normally a single sheet document printed in one or two colors or in a full color process.  A flyer acts as communication between you and the reader,...

Jo knew that events could be advertised in the Trade Magazines linked to her company's line of business but, as a newcomer to event organization, with a non-existent advertising budget and with no marketing expert at her elbow; where should she begin? Some of the best advertising you can get is editorial written about your event or your company. Print media like trade journals, magazines and newspapers are often looking to fill their pages and you may have noticed that articles about companies and their activities are often surrounded by advertising for related businesses.  Most print media is paid for by the advertising, so this type of article has benefits both ways. If the topic of your workshop or roadshow is a controversial, exciting or popular subject, it is more likely that an article about it will be printed however you have little control over the timing. The article might be included in any month and will be driven more by space than by your deadline. To get an article pr...

It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur—in the last decade, technology has leveled the playing field and propelled an entrepreneurial revolution. As an entrepreneur, you now have more access to information that enables you to make more intelligent choices more quickly. You have an advantage over big businesses in that you’re lighter, more flexible, and faster on your feet. You can target new markets more quickly, and you can turn on a dime.

While there are a host of benefits for companies and websites that choose to advertise via the Internet, there are many negative facets to online advertising as well. These aspects include advertising activities that many deem immoral or even illegal. 

So why do you think, flyers fail to serve its purpose? There are reasons behind it and here are some of it:

In this day and age it is almost impossible to maintain a decent standard of living on one paycheck, but in a family where children are involved it is not always feasible for both dad and mom to have a job outside of the home.  Daycare expenses, the need for a second car, and too much time away from the children are some common drawbacks.  This however is the exact situation that a Home Based Business works to its greatest advantage.

Advertising involves a lot of analysis. It is an analysis of the good points of what you have to offer. You need to analyze your offerings carefully, bring to light all the good points and let the full glare of advertising shine upon them. A good advertising writer is like a sponge. He absorbs every idea within reach and if he does not use the ideas and suggestions the moment they come in, they are absorb in his mind to be later pulled out when required. 

What is your reaction to advertising? Well, do not tell me that it annoys or irritates you. I know that. The same goes for me. I’d like to know how you act after reading some advertising piece. 

I hear the term "Virtual Assistant" more and more in business. Did you know that you could possibly hire someone from another continent that works while you sleep and maybe for $8 - $12 Dollars. Mos t of the VA’s I work with have degrees and one an MBA in Business Admin. I pay her $15.00 per hour and what a bargain that is.

In strategic planning they always tell you that you must always have a contingency plan. This means that you must create different probable scenarios of what could happen during the process of your original plan, and create a plan for each probable scenario.

With so many young people trying to work from home on the Internet it is amazing just how many of them really do not have the slightest idea, of the workload they have gotten themselves into. Many of these people did not even sit down and assess what it is that they see as reasonable personal goal. This is a huge mistake on their part. 

Many people would love to be able to work at home, but aren’t really sure what their options are.  If you’ve been trying to find a way to earn enough income while still being able to work from home, first you must figure out what type of opportunity you are looking for.  Here are 4 different ways that you can work from home.

To have a website or not to have a website; that is an occurring online question. When we set out to search for online business, we receive so many messages telling us that not having a website is not a problem as the opportunity itself will give you a duplicate page of your own that you can promote.

Now maybe the reason you’re interested in setting up a home business is because you’ve seen an ad somewhere, or you’ve been approached by someone. It was all about a great work-from-home money-making opportunity, and you’re excited. Finally, you can quit your job!

Word of mouth advertising creates an awareness campaign where your business information travels from person to person, creating a world wind of awareness. For a new business start-up, word of mouth marketing is often the best and most effective advertising method.

Here is an advertising design idea that will challenge you to make imaginative ads rather than boring ones. I call it the "Photo ID Design Model" and it is a very useful device if you create advertising for your company or organization. It is one of the easiest and most effective ways to create a striking ad, banner or poster. And it will almost always give you a result that gets noticed.

A poster is a visual representation comprising of whatever a person wants to convey to its readers. If done effectively, posters can influence or entice readers to make an action. Advertising through posters necessitates a business owner to consider some tricks and techniques in order to catch the attention of its prospects. Although a simple poster always do the trick, it is still essential that you do something unique and different in order to please your readers. 

And not only your logo, but also your website, your brochure, your business cards and any of your marketing materials for that matter. Yes, colors do matter.

The first is to make the business known to people. Familiarity is the first aspect. Probable clients need to know that your business exists. Not only that, you exist with credibility and quality. How do you do it? Well, savvy businessmen use promotional materials to make their products and services familiar, maintain their standing in the business world and more. 

One of the discussion lists I follow had quite an exchange of messages about the place of hype in writing. Hype, of course, generates emotion, and we see it used extensively in sales copy. But it also turns up in some employee communication, and especially in staff newsletters when the wrong people get involved.

I am sure you are familiar with the phrase, “I could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo.” First, allow me to personally congratulate anyone out there who has sold ice cubes to an Eskimo, for I believe this to be quite a difficult task to accomplish.

How well do you know your customers? What is the primary reason your customers or clients come to you? Or purchase your product or service? What is the Number One problem you solve for them? Do you know? Are you certain? If you don't, your marketing could be missing the mark, and you could be missing out on sales.

Are you thinking about setting up your own business? Have you an idea for a new business but are unsure about how to proceed? If you have answered yes to either of these questions, this article could be of benefit to you. I am going to write about how to plan and create a successful small business.

Ask any small business owner to come up with ideas on how to market their business and they will say adverts, brochures, leaflets, direct mail etc. Whilst all these are great ways of promoting your business they all cost money!  What if I could show you a better and more effective way of marketing your business? In this article I am going to share with you some key strategies to get more business and ultimately increase your profits.

Many more people want to buy your product or service, but they don’t end up doing it! That’s because many companies are stuck in the print marketing mindset, and don’t realize that there are a couple simple things that they can do online to increase their conversion rates. In this article, I’ll outline three easy to implement changes that will take those extra sales right to the bank!

Revenue is down.  Sales are slowing.  The CEO looks up from the business plan and realizes that the company won’t meet analysts’ expectations.  Focusing on the organization’s sales leader, the stage is set for sacrificing a scapegoat.

What’s your approach to sales training?  Do you have a process that defines which sales performance competency to train to and what impact it will have on selected performance silos if the training objective is successfully met?  Or do you rely on ‘field feedback’ not associated with actual performance numbers and related ROI to decide where to put your training dollars?   Here’s a simple blueprint to gain more revenue in less time while maintaining fiscal accountability to the ‘Top-floor’. 

For those of us working in the exciting world of sales, we are all too familiar with the pressures of meeting our  daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals. This pressure can sometimes cause us to lose focus on the simple things that made us successful to begin with.

As business owners or managers we often find it difficult, even in the best of situations to get out and seek new business. You've probably thought that if you could just find a way to squeeze that into your day without spending more time away from your family or working weekends, you'd be all set, right? Guess what? You can and all that it's going to take is a little preparation.

Network marketing is a numbers game. The more people you introduce to your opportunity, the more money you’ll make. To start generating a steady stream of traffic to your site, try these 7 creative techniques:

Entrepreneurs with businesses in early start-up differ on what they believe to be the most important element, although many professionals will argue that creating a solid business plan should definitely be the first step.  A well-crafted business plan lays out all the details and strategies, includes projections for revenue and spending, and will be reviewed in detail by bankers and venture capitalists. But in fact, the most important document that should be created even before the business plan is the “elevator pitch.”

There are several reasons why consultants ultimately lose deals they should have won. Unless your portfolio is poor, consultants lose contracts because they either didnt listen or they didnt speak effectively to convey what services they could offer, that would help the client reach their goals. Here are a few tips to help you sell your services.

Think quick. In 10 seconds, can you list the 5 key benefits you offer your customers? I bet you said “Yes”. But are you sure you listed benefits? If you’ll bear with me for another 10 seconds, I’d like to test out a theory on you. 

As a customer, I know what it's like to be on the customers side of the counter. You want to turn over your hard earned money for goods or services. You are then confronted with attitude, rudeness and utter disregard for just how hard you have worked for your dollar. Either the service is slow and the quality of the goods are poor, or worse the company you are patronizing rigidly enforces poor policies for handling customer issues.

These are simple and effective methods to increase your sales. You may think that you know what your customer wants, but do you really? Instead of assuming that you know, why not listen to the customer and ask questions to find out what it is that they REALLY want.

What routines are preventing you from increasing your sales? Whether you realize it or not, you are a creature of habit. Unless you do shift work, you probably get up at the same time everyday, follow the same routine to wake up and get yourself ready for the day, drive the regular route to work, do the same things once you get to work, and take the same route home at the end of the day. 

Whether you create and sell your own products, buy reselling rights or rebrand other people's products, adding value with bonuses is a well-used tactic in affiliate marketing. Why? Because a good bonus is valid, honest, and truly does add value to any offer. Perhaps most importantly, it makes the customer think that NOT to purchase would be a very unwise decision.

Marketers from every niche have common ground when it comes to bills.  Yeah, every month there’s a new stack of bills demanding to be paid.  Will there be enough profit to slide right through bill paying time without a flinch?  Or do you find yourself fretting about whether you’ll even break even?  You don’t have to be victimized by envelopes and 8x10 sheets of paper.  Implement these 3 techniques to boost your sales. 

How many times has it happened to you?  You walk through the doors of a place of business and here he comes - perfectly groomed with a smile planted across his face in greeting.  Within two minutes he has talked non-stop and promised you everything, including the stars if you purchase his project.  You lift and eyebrow, and think to yourself... "Yeah, right!" The distrust between consumer and salesman is a longstanding feeling.  After all, you know they are wanting to make a buck off your purchase.  Sure, you don't mind them making a few dollars... everybody has to make a living... but heck, it would be nice if they were at least a little concerned about what your needs are too! 

Looking after a new employee during their first few weeks at work can mean the difference between their success and failure as employees as well as your success and failure as an employer, manager or supervisor.   Proper orientation determines how fast the new employee can be productive and efficient in his or her new job while giving you a good opportunity to make your new employee an efficient part of your team.

Avoiding the top 7 business financing mistakes is a key component in business survival.  If you start committing these business financing mistakes too often, you will greatly reduce any chance you have for longer term business success.  The key is to understand the causes and significance of each so that you're in a position to make better decisions.

We are living in a world of change. Shift happens! Competition comes from all over the world, which means that many American businesses are in trouble.

An ideal lawyer will not just have a string of impressive credentials or gold lettering on his door. He or she will be caring, concerned, and devoted to their work to reduce tax burden for your small business. You need to think carefully before laying your trust in a lawyer after all in some cases your life, future, money or property will be in his hands.

No two small businesses are alike, but most want to be like their larger counterparts in some key respects. So, many people want their small business more visible. For example, even if you own a company with only a few really great customers, you want to be visible enough to attract new customers, boost your odds of securing repeat business and do all you can to improve customer satisfaction.