Know Your Shopping

Amazing changes in the retail marketplace over the last 15 years has created new, different obstacles to successfully launch a new product. Marketing romantics muse glowingly about the old days when there were supposedly multiple placement opportunities in every level of retail. True, there were. But on closer inspection, there are as many options now, if not more.

People and organizations are not usually open to change. Change is hard, requires a different thought process, imagination, flexibility. In the 1980’s there was a seemingly endless array of local, regional and national store chains, including department stores, drug, discount, food, hardware and mass merchandisers. Most are now gone. They did not change.

WT Grant, Montgomery Ward, Venture, Ayr-Way, Gold Circle, Hills, Super-X, Bambergers, B. Altman, Bonwit Teller and Wannamakers are only a tiny sampling of strong store brands that no longer exist. The new big box chains that have taken their place feature massive purchasing, merchandising and logistic assets. Certainly Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Macys, Walgreen and Kroger have earned their collective perches as dominating chains in their categories.

The question for small businesses and entrepreneurs is how to successfully place product in these retail behemoths. And if they can’t be penetrated what other options are available. The difficulties of selling a short line or a single item to Wal-Mart are daunting, but can be overcome.

To successfully sell the big boys, you have to adjust, change your terms and conditions to fit theirs. The key to the modern big box success is based on huge sales volumes, lowest price available and logistics that enable ever-faster deployment of inventory and resources. Software for shipping and receiving is as important as product features and benefits. You have to have the capacity to participate in these advanced control systems.

The inter-net and electronic media have created whole new sales opportunities that did not exist a generation ago. If Ebay counted all of the independent contractors they serve as employees, they would be the world’s largest employer. Over 700,000 entities now sell product through this vast, democratic, web community. Many make a full-time living from Ebay sales. This is an inter-net department store with an auction format. And there are dozens of other targeted web-based sites seeking inventory to sell as well.

Home Shopping Network, ANC, Shop at Home and QVC are simply electronic department stores and each has a huge appetite for new products. Every year these cable television retailers search locally and through on-air solicitations for fresh, creative, new products that can be demonstrated in this powerful sales venue. A product that sells successfully on HSN will soon be in demand on traditional retail shelves.

Years ago late night infomercials were the frequent butt of comic skits. Today major companies such as Proctor & Gamble, General Motors and Estee Lauder utilize this sales venue. Hundreds of products are launched in short format infomercials each year, and many succeed. These spots can be produced at amazingly affordable prices and test media buys mitigate financial risk. Most big box stores feature an area featuring the “As Seen on TV” logo. It is much easier to penetrate the bureaucratic maze of a national chain with a bit of proven success in hand.

Much as TV infomercials have revolutionized product marketing, an even less expensive strategy can be undertaken utilizing print media. Main stream newspapers, magazines and print supplements increasingly sell print
Advertorials. An Advertorial is an article that reads and appears to be non-commercial, but contains a specific product message. These have been extremely powerful guerilla marketing tools, inexpensive, easy to monitor and strong revenue generators.

There are many other potential avenues to pursue in order to create sales traction for a product. Publicity campaigns (have the advantage of being free), specialty catalogs, remittance envelopes, commission sales coverage, and a customized web-site with an online pay-per-click program are just a few.

The old days and stores are gone. We only have the new days and a whole raft of new opportunities to utilize. Maybe Lowe’s is not the place to launch your product. Successful pursuit of a guerilla option will enable a product to develop a sales base, sales, traction and growth. This will level the negotiating field when the big box presentation is made.

Geoff Ficke is President of Duquesa Marketing, Inc. an international consulting firm with over 30 years experience in creating customized strategies and business plans, product development and funding opportunities for entrepreneurs, inventors and small business expansion. Mr. Ficke is also a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Study at the Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He can be reached at 859-442-5834 or through the company website http://www.duquesamarketing.com

Sub prime lenders come in two groups: reasonable and unreasonable. Reasonable sub prime lenders offer mortgage financing to high risk borrowers with slightly increased rates and fees. Unreasonable sub prime lenders charge several extra points and excessively high fees. Only through comparative shopping can you know if a particular lender is offering reasonable or unreasonable rates.

Compare Rates

Comparing rates is easy through online lender websites. By entering basic information, you can quickly receive quotes from several mortgage lenders. These quotes will give you a rough idea of who offers the most competitive packages. Be sure to add in fees and extra points when you are considering the cost of the loan.

Real Quotes

Real mortgage quotes require more information than just the loan amount and your income level. You will also need to provide information about your home’s location, your down payment, and other personal information.

After you have compared general quotes, you can request specific quotes from a handful of mortgage lenders. Online mortgage applications allow you to do this from the convenience of your home where you can easily find your financial and personal records.

Applying Online

Once you have received a quote from a mortgage lender, you can quickly finish the application process. Some lenders will require additional information online, but most lenders will simply mail out the final paperwork for your approval. After the forms are signed and notarized, you send it back to the lender for final processing.

Refinance Later

A subprime loan does not have to be permanent. Mortgage lenders look at the last three years of your credit history when considering your application. So after making regular payments on your mortgage and all your other bills, you can consider refinancing for a lower interest rate. Other ways to improve your credit rating include paying off credit cards and increasing your cash reserves.

To view our list of recommended sub prime mortgage lenders online, visit this
page: Recommended Sub Prime Mortgage Lenders Online.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of ABC Loan
Guide, an informational website about various types of loans.

No doubt about it.

“Spam” (unsolicited commercial email) threatens to
paralyze and ultimately destroy the email system as it
currently exists on the Internet.

Anyone with an email address can attest to the fact that
the avalanche of Spam has only increased in the last year
and shows no sign of stopping.

However, the current system many Internet Service
Providers (ISP’s) use to deal with Spam may just destroy
the Internet’s email system long before the spammers do.

Now, I won’t deny that the weight of the Spam on any
ISP’s resources can rate very significant.

It’s been estimated that between 30-60% of all email now
sent is Spam!

This means that 30-60% an ISP’s system resources
(bandwidth, hardware, system maintenance) go towards
delivering messages nobody wants to receive.

Out of self-defense, many ISP’s turn to third party
services like SpamCop, SPEWS (Spam Prevention Early
Warning System), and SpamHaus to help them identify
sources of spam and block the messages before their email
systems get clogged.

No Trial – No Defense – Guilty!

In theory, it’s a great system.

In practice, it creates a situation resembling a witch
hunt where the accused gets burned at the stake without a
trial, let alone the ability to face their accuser.
Here’s how the system works.

Let’s say a business habitually sends legitimate email to
its customers or prospects who asked to receive the
email.

As long as nobody complains, life proceeds as normal.

But then let’s say one of those people forgets they opted
in to the business’s email list and reports an email
message as spam to one of the services I mentioned above.

Result: the business gets blacklisted by one or more of
these services and ISP’s in turn automatically block
email (legitimate email) sent by the business to its
customers and opt-in subscribers.

To make matters even worse, nobody at these anti-spam
services bothers to let the business know they’ve been
blacklisted.

When the business finally discovers their status and
tries to contact SpamCop, SPEWS or SpamHaus, the real fun
begins.

If the business does discover which service(s)
blacklisted them, they’ll find they can’t call anyone on
the phone to discuss the problem.

They also discover these services are totally unregulated
and there is no higher court of appeals.

Any email responses from these services often contain a
smug attitude of assumed guilt that scoffs at your claims
of innocence.

Also, don’t bother asking for the opportunity to face
your accuser in order to prove your innocence because
they get to hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

Combining this attitude of assumed guilt with the
inability to prove your innocence creates a recipe for
disaster for every legitimate business.

Oh, by the way, while writing this article, I received 19
spam email messages through an ISP monitored by all 3
anti-spam services.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

In the end, the current system only creates opportunity
for abuse that targets legitimate businesses while the
real spammers just merrily keep sending their flood of
email.

(c) Jim Edwards – All Rights reserved – http://www.thenetreporter.com

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how
to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of
targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links…

Simple “Traffic Machine” brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
your website for weeks, even months… without spending a
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Learning language is a complicated process, and yet babies manage to do it by following an orderly series of steps. To begin with, they learn to distinguish different sounds, and recognise patterns or syllables that they hear frequently. Tone is also very important, as it conveys the emotion behind the words. A baby watches your face and starts working out what your facial expression means. As an example, if you repeat a baby’s name in a high pitched voice, and have a happy, smiling face, very young infants will respond in a positive way quite quickly.

A baby usually learns to understand language long before he can say the words himself. A baby can follow simple directions even as young as 4-5 months old. He can recognise often repeated, key words like “no”, and “more”, their names, and favourite words like “eat”!

The main problem is that there’s a gap between when a baby can understand language, and when he can communicate in return. This can led to an intense amount of frustration. So if we can find a way to help the baby let us know what he’s thinking and feeling, it can reduce the level of frustration in the baby – and in ourselves! It’s possible to do this, well before a baby starts using words – it’s called “Baby Signs”. You can use baby signs as an early way to help baby communicate, and it’s also valuable in reinforcing a baby’s language development.

Teaching a baby sign language is very simple. Take a word you use frequently with the baby, such as “more” or “eat”, and make a simple gesture every time you use the word. For example, for “eat”, you could point to your mouth. Make sure you use the same gesture every time you use the word. Speak clearly, and face the baby as you say the word. Use an enthusiastic tone, make sure the baby is watching, and when you have baby’s attention, repeat the word and gesture a few times.

Most parents find that if they start using baby signs around 6-7 months of age, the baby can usually mimic the gestures back to you and communicate what he wants by the time he’s around 8-10 months old.

Sometimes parents are concerned that the baby will come to rely on signs, and inadvertently delay the development of speech. In fact, most of the time the opposite is true. By using the signs, the language connections in a baby’s brain are being created and developed much earlier. This actually tends to give the baby a head start in communicating, and so speed up the process of developing speech. While that may not be true for all babies, it’s true for many.

In the meantime, baby signs will allow your baby to communicate his wishes and thoughts to you at a much earlier age, and so reduce the frustration many babies suffer before they learn to talk. It will also make it easier for you to understand what baby wants, and so make parenting a lot easier.

So baby sign language has two advantages – it helps your baby develop communication skills, and it also helps improve your parenting.

Check out the author’s book about babies at Baby’s First Year
For lots more great baby information, check out Info About Baby You can also sign up for a FREE Baby Tips newsletter at Baby Tips Newsletter.

You have decided to strike it out on your own and set up a business consultancy. Chances are you want to look at getting your own office premises. Besides ensuring that your rental payment does not create serious cash-flow problems in the medium term, you have to look out for these other factors:

The anchor tenant:

Every office building will have a few anchor tenants. It is important to find out from the building management when their lease will end. The reason is that these anchor tenants collectively create the image of the office building to the public and will generate the initial customer traffic for your company. Their presence will also be factored in the quotation of the rental payment.

Office Supplies:

You must enquire if there are tenants who can supply you with the resources for the daily operations of your consultancy. This may include printer cartridge, paper and general office stationery. Then your staff will not waste valuable company time in making phone calls or traveling when your resources need to be replenished. This is also a golden opportunity to “cross advertise”. You can leave your name-card and flyers with these suppliers and vice versa.

Networking:

You may discover that a similar consultancy is a tenant in the same office building. Seize this opportunity to create economies of scale by having your office at the same floor with them. Not only will you benefit from increased traffic, you may have to collaborate with them on big projects.

Office Renovation:

Some building management will not allow new tenants to make major changes to the décor of the office. This policy is in line with trying to keep to the uniformity and identity of the whole building. You have to decide if the building’s identity is coherent with what your company wants to project. However, office renovation should not take precedence to being close to your target market.

Your clients:

If your clients have to frequent your consultancy, it is essential that there is sufficient car-park space or the office building is near an MRT station. With the current working trends and globalisation of operations, your staff may have to put in irregular working hours. Having an office with a 24-hour security patrol and air-conditioning facilities will make the working experience more acceptable!

Bank:

Ensure that there is a bank in the office building or in the near vicinity for you to do your daily banking activities. Having easy access to cash flow and TT facilities will also improve book-keeping procedures and encourage your customers to settle their debts more expeditiously.

Pro-active management committee:

It will also be helpful as a new tenant to be in the building management committee. This will open the door to more contacts and improve networking. You can also ask permission to promote your company in the building’s newsletter or put out a banner outside the building’s premises.

About The Author

Colin Ong TS is the Managing Director of MR=MC Consulting (http://www.mrmc.com.sg) and Founder of the 12n Professional Online Networking Community; colin@mrmc.com.sg

Recently, a number of the world’s leading project management organisations have taken major initiatives to enlighten executive management about the strategic importance and benefits of project management. The focus is to move from individual project management to organisational project management, which these organisations maintain is a strategic advantage in a competitive economy.

In this article, Ed Naughton, Director General of the Institute of Project Management and current IPMA Vice President, asks Professor Sebastian Green, Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Professor of Management and Marketing at University College Cork (formerly of the London Business School), about his views of strategic project management as a vehicle for competitive advantage.

Ed: What do you thing strategic Project Management is?

Prof. Green: Strategic project management is the management of those projects which are of critical importance to enable the organisation as a whole to have competitive advantage.

Ed: And what defines a competitive advantage, then?

Prof. Green: There are three attributes of having a core competence. The three attributes are: it adds value to customers; it’s not easily imitated; it opens up new possibilities in the future.

Ed: But how can project management yield a competitive advantage?

Prof. Green: There are two aspects to project management. One aspect is the actual selection of the type of projects that the organisation engages in, and secondly there is implementation, how the projects themselves are managed.

Ed: Competitive advantage – the importance of choosing the correct projects – it isn’t easy to define which projects should be chosen!

Prof. Green: I think that the selection and prioritisation of projects is something that hasn’t been done well within the project management literature because it’s basically been assumed away through reducing it to financial analysis. The strategic imperative gives you a different way of prioritising projects because it’s saying that some projects may not be as profitable as others, but if they add to our competency relative to others, then that’s going to be important.

So, to take an example, if a company’s competitive advantage is introducing new products more quickly than others, pharmaceuticals, let’s say, getting product to market more quickly, then the projects that enable it to get the product more quickly to market are going to be the most critical ones, even if in their own terms, they do not have higher profitability than other sorts of projects.

Ed: But if we’re going to select our projects, we have to define what are the parameters or metrics we’re going to select them against that give us the competitive advantage.

Prof. Green: Absolutely. The organisation needs to know which activities it is engaged in, which are the important ones for it competitive advantage and then, that drives the selection of projects. Organisations aren’t very good at doing that and they may not even know what those activities are. They’ll think it’s everything they do because of the power system.

Ed: If a company formulates its strategy, then what the project management community says is that project management is the medium for delivering that strategy. So therefore, if the organisation is good at doing project management, does it have any strategic advantage?

Prof. Green: Well, I suppose that comes back to this issue of the difference between the type of projects that are chosen and the way you manage the projects. Obviously choosing the type of projects depends on being able to link and prioritise projects according to an understanding of what the capability of an organisation is relative to others.

Ed: Let us assume that the strategy is set. In order to deliver the strategy, it has to be broken down, decomposed into a series of projects. Therefore, you need to be good at doing project management to deliver the strategy. Now, the literature says that for an organisation to be good at doing projects it has to: put in project management procedures, train people on how to apply/do project management and co-ordinate the efforts of the people trained to work to procedures in and integrated way using the concept of a project office. Does taking those three steps deliver a competitive advantage for this organisation?

Prof. Green: Where project management, or how you manage projects, becomes a source of competitive advantage is when you can do things better than others. The ‘better than’ is through the experience and judgement and the knowledge which is built up over time of managing projects. There is an experience curve effect here. Two organisations will be at different points in the experience curve as to the knowledge they have built up to manage those bits of projects where the rule book is inadequate. You need management judgement and experience because however good the rule book is, it will never deal completely with the complexity of life. You have to manage down the experience curve, you have to manage the learning and knowledge that you have of those three aspects of project management for it to become strategic.

Ed: Well, then, I think there is a gap there that has to be addressed as well, in that we have now developed a competency at doing project management to do projects, but we haven’t aligned that competency to the selection of projects which will help us to give this competitive advantage. Is project management capable of being imitated?

Prof. Green: Not the softer aspects and not the development of tacit knowledge of having run many, many projects over time. So, for example, you, Ed, have more knowledge of how to run projects than other people. That’s why people came to you, because while you both may have a standard book such as the PMBoK or the ICB, you have developed more experiential knowledge around it.

In essence, it can be imitated a certain amount of the way, but not when you align the softer tacit knowledge of experience into it.

Ed: Organisational project management maturity models are a hot topic at the moment and are closely linked to the ‘experience curve’ effect you mentioned earlier – how should we view them?

Prof. Green: I believe in moving beyond painting by numbers, moving beyond the simplistic idea that an organisation is completely plastic and you can impose this set of procedures and skills and text book protocols and that’s all you need to do. In a way, exactly the same problem was experienced by the developers of the experience curve. If you show companies the experience curve on cost, it’s almost as though, for every doubling of volume, cost reductions occur without you having to do anything. What we know is though, that the experience curve is a potential of a possibility. Its’ realisation depends on the skill of managers.

Ed: Are senior executives/chief executives in the mindset to appreciate the potential benefits of project management?

Prof. Green: Until recently, project management has promoted itself in technical terms. If it was promoted in terms of the integration at general management, at the ability to manage across the functions lending technique procedures with judgement, then it would be much more attractive to senior managers. So, it’s about the blending of the hard and the soft, the techniques with the judgement and the experience that makes project management so powerful. If senior managers don’t embrace it at the moment, it’s not because they are wrong. It’s because project management hasn’t marketed itself as effectively as it should’ve done.

Ed: Do we need to sell to senior executives and chief executives that it will deliver competitive advantage to them?

Prof. Green: No, I think we need to show them how it does it. We need to go in there and actually show them how they can use it, not just in terms of delivering projects on time and within cost. We need to demonstrate to them how they can use it to overcome organisational resistance to change, how they can use it to enhance capabilities and activities that lead to competitive advantage, how they can use it to enhance the tacit knowledge in the organisation. There is a whole range of ways in which they can use it. They need to see that the proof of the outcome is better than the way they’re currently doing it.

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If you are going to take the time and effort to book a cheap cruise in order to save money, you should also be certain that you are being cost effective in you pre-trip preparations. Here are several tips for keeping your costs down as you prepare for your cruise.

Go with what you’ve got.

Your summer clothes from last season are fine for your cheap cruise. You’re going to relax, not to participate in an on-deck fashion show. Don’t go blow all your money before the trip on new swimwear and shorts. Your old Hawaii shirts and last summer’s swim trunks will serve you just fine.

The same goes for your luggage. Nobody is going to be impressed if you come on board with brand new leather travel bags. You’re going to be on a ship so stuffing everything into an old gym bag is perfect. In fact, it will make you look like a real “old-salt” to others on board.

Hide your plastic and bring cash.

While you should probably bring your credit card with you on your cruise, consider it for emergency use only. For spending money, set a budget ahead of time for things like souvenirs and put this amount aside in cash or traveller’s checks for your cruise. This will keep you from over-spending and help you avoid the “charge it” syndrome once you are on board.

Stock up on film before you leave.

Of course, no cruise would be complete without taking tons of pictures of your trip to share with friends and relatives upon your return. Film prices on the cruise ship are notoriously expensive though. Stocking up on cheap rolls of film from your local discount store will save you a bunch of money.

You’ve taken the time to book a cheap cruise – now use the tips above to continue saving money before you leave. Being frugal during your travel preparations will leave you with more money to spend during your vacation. Enjoy your cruise!

James Allen is the 1st mate behind YourCheapCruises.com Before you set sail, come learn about planning your next cheap cruises at his website’s home port.

Cash rebate credit card allows its customer to get a cash rebate every time it is used. Many companies have adopted this method to keep their customers happy. Such offers make sure that customers get back something back every time they make a purchase.

A cash rebate Credit Card is an ideal choice for those who prefer real cash rewards rather than other offers like air miles or other items. So if you are really like good amount of cash coming back to you on the purchases you make. These cash rebate cards have a higher APR and fees.

If you tend to carry an outstanding, this credit card would be very costly. However, if you pay off your balances than the higher APR will not affect you that much and you can take full advantage of some great cash rebates. A cash rebate facility varies from card to card but it is usually 1%. The rebate may also rise up to 5% on certain purchases.

Let perceive this with an example. Imagine that you get a gasoline card; you may be able to earn a high percentage rebate on all your purchases. If there are more items, which qualify under the cash, rebate program, you would be able to earn a high rebate amount every month. Some purchases for big ticket items can get you a great deal of cash rebate, but there might be a cap on the maximum about of rebates you can get.

But do not shop blindly. Always try to review whether your rebate card supports rewards on such items.

To avail maximum benefits from a cash rebate credit card, you should know very well about how to get your reward from your cash rebate credit card. Once you reach bank for a check. Some banks allow their customers to receive the reward on their credit card account or even deposit into their bank account.

Try to pay attention to other features of the credit card, like the account credit limits annual percentage rate, transfer fees etc. Once you are through with your research you can decide on which rebate credit card to apply for.

A rebate credit card is a very good choice if you can try to manage to get one but never forget to understand the features offered by such credit cards to avoid any misunderstandings.

Andy Eaton is the owner of http://www.credit-cards-4us.com a site decdicated to helping consumers find the right credit cards, helping them get out of debt.

Like HUD repo’s, VA homes are sold through a bidding system by real estate agents. However, VA homes are much cleaner. The veteran’s administration partially fixes their repossessed VA homes. They may also extend financing options to the seller that may include fewer costs, lower interest, and no repayment penalty. VA homes are not difficult to qualify for and you don’t have to be a veteran to be approved.

Having a real estate agent is a great way to go when purchasing VA homes. This is because procedures involved with government owned properties are consistently subject to change. In fact, the process involved with VA homes is currently undergoing changes right now.

The FDIC, Freddie Mac, IRS, SBA, GSA, and Fannie Mae are lesser-known government agencies that also list repossessed homes. Though HUD and VA homes are more popular, these rare listings have selling prices nearer to market value and are usually cleaned and fixed up before listing.
Your way to Foreclosure investing

Purchasing VA homes and other foreclosures means dealing one on one with the property owner and at times the lender as well. The point is to reach an agreement that is beneficial to all parties involved.

It is a common myth that VA homes may have title problems. Many times people believe that the property may be subject to liens and judgments. This is actually not the case. Lien holders are held in sort of hierarchy that determines who has first dibs on a foreclosure. When the VA homes go to auction, the senior lien holder or lender with first dibs will bid on a property if they want it. Only if they don’t want it will it go to another lender in which case all other liens are then cleared away.

Ernani Uchoa is the writter of articles at http://www.foreclosuredeals.com, the online leading source of foreclosure properties. To get more information, please visit our website.

Real estate differs from one state to the next. When buying real estate in Florida you should know the laws and rules that will effect you. Some things, however, are universal and apply to anyone buying real estate anywhere. These things are also important to know before getting into a real estate transaction.

There are two relationships between buyers and agents in Florida, Buyers Agents and Transactional Brokers. A buyers agent is a representative of the buyer. The buyers agent is required to look for the best interests of the buyer. They must tell the buyers everything about the real estate transaction and follow any direction of the buyer. A transactional buyer does not represent the buyer. They are there to sell real estate. They are not required to tell the buyer everything about the transaction. For specific information regarding a buyers rights in Florida you should contact the Florida Real Estate Commission.

In general when buying real estate a person should follow some simple real estate rules. While these rules are not legally binding and it is ultimately up to the buyer as to if they follow them or not, they are a good idea to at least keep in mind. The following list gives some of these rules.

- Do not let anyone pressure you into buying.

- Keep a budget in mind and stick to it.

- Do not sign anything you do not understand.

- Research the costs and legal points before starting a transaction.

- Get a good idea of the neighborhood and type of house you would like before hand.

Buying real estate is a major financial decision. Every step should be taken to ensure a buyer makes the best decision. Following general guidelines and state laws will help to ensure the transaction goes smoothly.

About the author: Stephen Kreutzer is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides Florida real estate information on CyberTopics!