SubScribe : Post   Email   Feed

Posts Tagged ‘Avoid’

Three Reasons Why You Avoid Business Networking Events

Sunday, December 19th, 2010
Share

Do you go out of your way to avoid business networking meetings? Do you tell yourself that networking doesn’t work for you? Do you view business networking strictly as the domain for the confident or extrovert?

Well if the response is yes to any of these questions read on and you might be pleasantly surprised to find out that business networking could provide you with a goldmine of opportunity, one which you could tap into more easily than your think.

Let’s dispel some myths first:

Myth 1: Networking is only for those who like to talk….wrong!

In fact those who like to talk about themselves at the expense of listening to others are actually probably the worst networkers. Business networking is all about relationship building with others in order that they can get to know, like and trust you. Those who talk and do not listen do two things: they fail to understand the needs of those they are talking to and secondly end up boring the other person. This is not a good start to building up relationships.

So if your strength is listening rather than talking you are already one step ahead of the game.

Myth 2: You have to be good at selling to be a good networker…wrong!

Well partly wrong…business networking isn’t about giving a sales pitch for your services and closing the sale, but it is all about selling yourself. This means that when you go to a networking event you need to relax and be yourself, then people will see the real you. If you start pretending to be someone you aren’t then others will see through this façade and whether it is consciously or unconsciously they will not trust you.

In fact many business people who dislike conventional sales techniques such as cold-calling opt for the softer option of business networking or referral marketing because building business in this way is based on developing relationships.

Myth 3: You are the only person who will feel nervous at a networking event…wrong!

When faced with a room full of strangers there are few people who will say they relish making those first steps to approaching someone to talk to, especially when they have arrived alone. But remember, everyone is there for the same reason – to meet people, so think how delighted someone will be if you go and join them, especially if they too are on their own.

If you struggle for topics to start the conversation, ask some easy open-ended questions that will quickly help you to build rapport with the other person. For example ‘What other events do you go to?’ or ‘where do you come from’ or ‘What do you do?’

So, what other business networking tips should you take with you to your next event to help boost your confidence?
Undoubtedly your top tip is to be prepared. Know where you are going, arrive plenty in time and find out what the format of the event is.

Have your elevator pitch prepared – this is the brief sound bite you give when someone asks you what you do. If you will be giving a formal 60 second pitch, ensure this too is prepared in advance.

Dress appropriately for the event but try to wear what you feel comfortable in.

Prepare some simple rapport-building questions you can ask anyone to get the conversation started and take plenty of business cards with you.

So apply all these tips, be prepared to stick with it and soon you will find that networking is no longer a chore but an enjoyable way to grow your business.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Internet Business Coaching | No Comments »

Student Loan Default – How to Avoid Default

Saturday, August 14th, 2010
Share

Who Provides Student Loans?

Student loan programs, administered by the Federal government and private lenders, have traditionally helped youngsters attend both, graduate and undergraduate school. Federal loans, administered under the Federal Student Aid Programs, are of the following types: Federal Stafford Loans, which are available to students, and Federal Parent PLUS Loans, meant for parents and guardians interested in financing their child’s undergraduate education. Of course, the latter would require the parents/guardians to have a good credit history. Both, Stafford and PLUS loans, can be obtained directly from the government, or from private lender’s whose loans are federally guaranteed. Low interest loans are offered to students by schools participating in the Federal Perkins Loans Program. Sallie Mae, a giant lender in the realm of student loans, was created in 1972 as a government enterprise. It was privatized in the year 2004, and the company provides both, private loans and federally backed loans. Private banks and non-profit agencies like Student Loan Corp also provide student loans.

Consequences of Student Loan Default

Repaying student loans provided under the Federal Student Aid Programs usually begins 6 to 9 months after a person graduates or drops out of school. In case of ‘The Smart Option Student Loan’, provided by Sallie Mae, the borrower is expected to pay only interest when he is in school, while after graduating he has to make both principal and interest payments.

Lenders have their own repayment schedule, and any delay in making payments can have serious consequences. For instance, in case of Federal loans, which are repaid in installments, default on even a single payment can result in accelerating the repayment schedule for the remaining amount of the loan. The government can take away or ‘garnish’ 15% of a students disposable income as penalty. A portion of social security retirement benefits and disability benefits might also be withheld. Access to other Federal loans may be restricted. Of course, both government and private lenders can sue a person for defaulting, not to mention the impact of such a default on credit scores. A student loan default can remain on record for 7 years. Hence defaults should be avoided at all costs.

How to Avoid Student Loan Defaults

Alternative Repayment Plans: There are various repayment plans for Federal Loans. A student can consider switching between repayment plans, in case he feels that he is likely to default. Currently there are 4 such plans: Level, Graduated, Income Sensitive, and Extended. The level plan requires a person to pay the same amount of interest and principal during the term of the loan (usually 10 years). In case of graduated plans, a person starts with a lower payment and gradually increases the amount of payment every 2 years. This plan requires a minimum bank balance of $2500. Income based repayment plans will come into effect on 1st July 2009, and these may be appropriate for people with low income, since the amount of repayments cannot exceed 25% of their gross salary. The minimum payment can be as low as 4% of the gross salary. For people who borrowed before October 1998, the extended repayment plan can allow them to extend the term of the loan by 25 years.

Consolidating Federal and Private Student Loans: Consolidation student loans result in reducing the interest rate on several loans by replacing them with one loan that has an extended repayment period, and consequently, a lower rate of interest. Consolidation is an option that can be considered both, before and after default. Federal government allows consolidation of loans in case of Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) and Direct Loans. In order to qualify for a FFEL consolidation loan, a person needs to make 3 voluntary on-time payments after defaulting on student loans.

Seeking Forbearance: Forbearance refers to a situation wherein the borrower is exempted from making payments on student loans for a certain period of time. During this period interest accumulates on the loans. Forbearance on federal loans can be requested in case of poor health, if monthly payments exceed 20% of the borrower’s monthly income, or in case a person is unable to pay the loan within 10 years. Private lenders generally grant forbearance in case of extreme hardships, while non- profit organizations like Student Loan Corp may grant forbearance up to a maximum period of 12 months at no additional costs.

Deferrals on Student Loans: A deferral is similar to forbearance since both result in postponing the repayment of the loan. However, in case of forbearance, interest continues to accumulate, while in case of deferral, interest does not accrue on the loan during the deferral period. Deferrals can be obtained under the following conditions: temporary disability, enrollment in a rehabilitation program, unemployment, receiving public assistance due to economic hardships.

Canceling: A federal student loan can be canceled in case of permanent disability, military and other uniformed service, or by teaching lower strata of society. Volunteering for Peace Corps may also result in canceling the loan. Sometimes nurses and resident physicians can also get a cancellation on their student loans. Canceling a student loan is harder than obtaining a deferral on the loans.

Rising unemployment due to worsening economic conditions has resulted in a number of student loan defaults. In the last 5 years, the cost of obtaining a college degree has increased by 30%. Rising cost of education, coupled with increasing unemployment, has left most students with no option but to drop out of school. The good news for college drop outs is that, returning to school and studying part time can help them obtain a deferral on most student loans.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Military Retirement | No Comments »

How to Avoid Getting Banned by the Search Engines

Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Share

Before you hire the services of a particular search engine optimization (SEO) company, you have to find out whether that particular service employs black hat tactics or not. As the owner of the website, you have to decide whether you would want to include any black or not white hat SEO techniques or not. Remember, if you prefer to get a ranking based on the quality of content on your webpage and intend to keep a good rapport with reputed search engines like Google, then you should strictly stay away from black or not white or negative tactics.

In case you’re not seeking the help of SEO service providers to push up the ranking of your website but instead you are using alternative techniques, that too unknowingly, then your site runs the risk of flouting the rules followed by the search engines. You can stick to the rules by knowing all about alternative techniques, some of which are discussed in this article, and by staying vigilant about it.

1) Keyword stuffing is one of the most popularly used techniques that is wrong to do. It is a ploy where a large number of keywords are included in a webpage hoping that the web crawler will consider it to be relevant. Those who employ such tactics do not necessarily maintain the quality of content for the webpage but instead just use keywords to top search engine results. You should definitely avoid such mean practices.

2) Sometimes hidden texts are used in web pages to get good ranking in search results. Such are placed at the bottom of the pages in small characters and sometimes these texts are same as the background color of the web page. If you resort to such techniques, your web site will surely be banned by reputed search engines, so it’s better if you don’t try it out at all.

3) Another alternative technique is cloaking where the webmasters provide totally different information about the website during search results. It gives the website a better ranking but give misleading description to the people who end visiting sites which are not similar to the content they are looking for. This can also get you into trouble and fast, so don’t do this.

4) Many a times doorway pages are used on a website which target certain keywords and phrases but they actually don’t offer any related contents which are useful to the user. Such practices are not acceptable by search engines and the webpage which carry such ploys will be banned if someone lodges a complaint against it.

5) Redirecting is also not acceptable by search engines. This type of technique is often used with doorway pages. When an individual opens a doorway page, he is immediately redirected to the actual page which includes the matter which he is looking for. If your webpage carry such features then it will put off from search engines.

Don’t develop a wrong notion that by employing any alternative techniques your website will get a good ranking quickly. There is no evidence to prove that the use these will actually help to get better ranking all the time, or even part of the time versus having your site banned. Above all, if such practices are not acceptable by the established organizations like Google, then why take such risks? Try to provide quality material on your website and you will automatically earn a good ranking on search engines.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in MLM | 2 Comments »

Avoid Bankruptcy By Making Simple Changes

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Share

On previous occasions, we have talked about the importance of avoiding bankruptcy and how it is called a last-resort mechanism and should only be used when the situation has no solution through other financial means; such as debt consolidation, debt negotiation or debt settlement.

Today, we would like to show people who are seriously thinking about filing for bankruptcy how it is possible to avoid it just by sketching contingency plans and learning how to change damaging spending habits that are one of the main reasons for bankruptcy.

In order to avoid bankruptcy, you as the owner of your assets, will have to make a list of all your valuables that can and should be taken into consideration. Remember to only add items that their value exceeds the $60 mark. Anything goes, from works of art to expensive and modern appliances. This way you will have the chance to evaluate all you possessions and at the same time, you will be able to classify what can be sold, the selling price and if it is already yours, meaning that you might still paying some of the items from the list.

At first, this measurement may be harsh but it is necessary; anything to avoid bankruptcy.

“Lynn” is following some important, sound advice. In order to avoid bankruptcy, he started making a list of all his possessions. He just realized that he liked to buy electronic gadgets that he actually did not need. By doing this, he learned that he was overspending on things that were very expensive and not quite essential for his living. He did it because of advertising campaigns and fancy T.V. commercials.

One bankruptcy specialist, Martin Rogers will show Lynn and us how to avoid bankruptcy by making a few changes and wisely planning how to spend money.

Lynn:
What do I have to do to avoid bankruptcy?

Martin Rogers:
In order to avoid bankruptcy, I am going to make a list of recommendations to ease the avoidance.

1. Figure out the main reason why your debt problem began.

Although people may think that those who file for bankruptcy are always compulsive buyers or irresponsible people, they may be wrong because sometimes you may fall into the hands of debt due to illness, divorce; loss of job, etc. But the important thing is to learn how to avoid this type of situation once and for all. The chief point to avoid bankruptcy is to determine the source of the problem and develop a contingency around it.

2. Determine the priority when the paying begins (or the paying priority)
Sometimes people think that to successfully avoid bankruptcy they have to keep their debts current by continuously paying each and one of them. But the truth is, that this way you will only make your current situation worse. That is why you need to organize your payments and prioritize them. I recommend first making the rent or mortgage payment and utility bills. Be very careful with the bills that have law penalties. To avoid bankruptcy does not mean to be homeless or live by candlelight.

3. Outline a budget

If you consider yourself to be an organized person, you can stick to a budget and surely this will get you out of debt. But the important thing to avoid bankruptcy is to design the budget well; not only make promises to yourself that you will not be able to keep. Instead of helping you, those kinds of goals can increase your debt and deliver you into the hands of bankruptcy.
A nice balanced budget can lighten your situation and free you from debt.

4. Selling your goods to avoid bankruptcy

Whenever you need quick cash, selling your goods can come in handy. Said handy list I mentioned earlier, can help you make decisions on which belongings to sell first and which ones to keep.

5. Ask for a Home equity loan

By exchanging your mortgage to receive a new one, can help you lower the interest rate or prolong the time of payment. You can end up with some extra money every month that can be used to pay more debts. The home equity loan is another mechanism to avoid bankruptcy, which is where you get a loan backed by your house, but can only be used if the property is already yours.

6. Cut off daily expenses

Although there are people who think that the morning espresso has no effect on their pocket, it really does. Behind the espresso the little doughnuts follow and the usual croissant. These usual and small expenses add up to big amounts of money monthly. Avoiding bankruptcy means to cut down as many daily expenses as you can and notice the difference in a couple of days.

Lynn:
Can I still support myself by paying only the minimum?

Martin Rogers:
Avoiding bankruptcy is not an easy task, but if you find that you cannot afford to pay more than the minimum each month on credit cards, mortgages, or other interest accruing loans, you may need to consider changing strategy.

When you pay no more than the minimum on a monthly basis, you are really not doing yourself any good and you will not avoid bankruptcy. The interest will continue accumulating, and eventually you are not even paying on the principal any more. All you are really paying is the interest. When you do this, you are just keeping yourself afloat financially.

To avoid bankruptcy means to do more; you will never really pay off the debt if you continue making payments like that. You may even be paying the same debt, ten or more years down the road.

Avoid bankruptcy and become debt free once more. If at the end of this process you do not feel that can avoid bankruptcy, remember to seek professional counseling.

*Disclaimer-this is in NO WAY meant to be legal advice or counsel. Please seek professional help when determining a course of action for your personal situation.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Goals | No Comments »


  • Twitter Feed