By now, everyone has been talking about or has talked about the importance of time management for any small business. It’s one of the integral components of successful home based business systems. But what most home based business systems lack is how to efficiently implement time management when applied to result-producing activities. You know that it’s important to organize your time, organize your activities, and try to minimize the time spent on activities to increase output. However, what I find lacking is that most people are not talking about how to apply those techniques in reference to home based business systems where you have several categories of tasks that need to be accomplished every day. Those categories are prospecting, business execution, and support.In order to create a time management action plan, you must first decide how much time you set out to devote to your home based business systems.Prospecting:When we consider prospecting in home based business systems, we need to understand that prospecting needs to be worked in two pools: customer base and distribution. Now, most people start freaking out when it comes to bringing people in to their businesses, or are up in arms on how to do it right. But isn’t that one of the basic precepts of any business? Think about it: what is the best way for you to increase your reach?Consider the basic retail business in this regard. Companies like Walmart, Target, Macy’s, or franchises like McDonald’s or Burger King all have exponentially increased their revenues by expanding their number of distribution points. The more stores in strategic geographic areas, the more customer base. When it comes to your home based business systems, the same principle applies. If you identify people that want to achieve their dreams through owning their own business, you can expand your customer base and increase sales revenues through increased distribution.Anyhow, back to the main focus. 1/2 of your day should be focused on prospecting customers and potential business owners. Business doesn’t grow if you just focus on administration and maintenance. This is especially true of home based business systems because of the fact that you don’t have the large financial budget compared to retail outlets and corporate companies, so you need to create clout and business organically. These methods can be done online and offline, in-person or utilizing social media. However, you must set out specific times in which you go and promote your business to get exposure.Some examples of how I prospect are that I join local community groups through Meetup and Chamber of Commerce. I keep a schedule of events that are posted and make time to get out and network. You can even prospect through your daily errands. If you are a stay-at-home mom, there are tons of ways to prospect. Whether it’s at the park, grocery store, picking up your kids, PTA meetings, every day that you are out in the world is another opportunity to prospect customers and potential business partners. Study up on how to start and maintain conversations and figure out approaches that will land you names to add to your list. I will write an article on this at a later time.Executing Business:A 1/4 of your remaining time should be devoted to administration and business maintenance tasks. Home based business systems all have administrative tasks that need to be completed on a timely basis. Failure to do so can result in penalties and setbacks in your business. It’s no different than the same penalties that traditional businesses suffer when failing to comply with certain regulations. For example, if a restaurant fails to renew their alcohol license or they fail a health inspection, fines are implemented. In your business, tasks can include filling out forms to maintain sales reports for safe taxable reporting, organizing your names list, and answering emails, tweets, comments, and posting new content on your funnels. The list goes on and on, so it’s key to write all your tasks down per week and organize them in to daily lists to organize your time to complete them.Supporting Your Business:This is something that I think most home based business systems lack in terms of having their business owners spend time thanking and maintaining customer loyalty. I’ve found that offering to provide your current customers with incentives to refer other customers to you is one of the primary and most effective marketing methods there is. Identify your top 5 customers and personally thank them by sending a note. Also useful is to provide a special promo incentive for them, like a tiered discount structure for the number of customers they refer to you. Just be sure that you don’t harass your customers by sending too much communication. Be smart with your business. Give them incentives to provide reviews and testimonials for the products they love that they purchase from you, so you solidify your sales materials for other potential customers.Not only do you want to support your customers, but support your team as well. Take time out to call your teammates and make sure you are providing them the support they need. Stabilize your organization and you stabilize your own income as well. Utilize contests to promote friendly competition with your team to boost sales, and set goals with your team and follow-up with them to keep them accountable.Don’t forget to keep track of your business volume and make sure that you are being rewarded for the result-producing activities you and your team are conducting.
A Guide on Successful Product Creation and Internet Marketing
Product creation in Internet marketing is getting stiffer and stiffer nowadays owing to tough competition between Internet-based businesses. Putting up a new product requires plenty of brainpower and finances along with an ability to take risk. With that, even if you have the product well-set already, you have to position it strategically in the Internet landscape for others to notice. You should get the interest of Web users and turn them to actual customers. Aside from the usual physical products, many different products that thrive well on Internet marketing include E-books, membership sites, and video lectures.
The long and difficult process of product creation begins with ideas. They are easy to get – compared to the effort that comes with analyzing the market for that idea. Before the idea turns to a product, businesses often spend money, even amounting to millions of dollars, to ensure the success of the new product that emerges from an idea. Businesses undertake many types of market research and surveys before releasing their products to the public. Now, you may think that because your business is small, you can’t afford research or you don’t have to do research; you can and you should. The Internet allows you to disseminate materials needed for your market study to many people at once without your having to spend a cent.
It is a common maxim in business: Look at your destination first before mapping out your journey. So what are the goals you intend to accomplish with your product creation ventures? The everyday travails of your business may make you forget the end in sight. On the other hand, prepare to entertain new developments that come to your mind in your product creation. Your conception of a product may have started this way, but a few tweaks here and there along with some market research results and it ends up another way. Take it as the result of a creative process, not as a failure to reach your goal. After all, your product creation activities are intertwined with a long-term goal that you should strive to sustain at your utmost: profit generation. So if your less profitable initial idea evolves to a more profitable product, be thankful!
With your product made up already, start doing some aggressive Internet marketing. A product purchase typically comes after more than five times a customer is exposed to an informative call-to-buy message. Thus it is important to get the contact details, like the e-mail address, of potential customers who are on the brink of a sale. Use the results of your market research to determine the demographics to which you should concentrate your marketing efforts.
With consistent product creation, you can make an inventory of your products that you can market in due time. Just keep making products – the moment you succeed in making and marketing a product, customers are surely wanting more from you, so give it to them. Keep them on your side through constant product creation.
8 Top Tips When Buying an Investment Property
In most countries, purchasing an investment property continues to be one of the most popular ways to invest. The goal of this investment should be to provide you financial freedom and enhance wealth. The problem is many believe that once they get into the venture, it will be a guaranteed, easy success.
It is vital you learn how to effectively manage your investment as this will determine whether or not the investment can help you achieve your financial goals. Below are a few tips when buying an investment property:
1. Choosing the ideal property at the right price
Purchasing an investment property at the right price is highly critical. It is all about the capital growth when it comes to investing in a property so make sure to choose a property that has a high potential of increasing in value.
Always do research. Find out as much as you can about what is selling in a certain area. The more you learn, the more you become skilled in determining the property that is worth investing on. In other words, you will know a bargain when you see it.
If you want to acquire valuable data on various locations and properties, get information from lenders and insurers as they have data that can help you avoid selecting the wrong investment property.
2. Do Your Computations
You should consider property investment as a means of long term type of investment. As this is the case, you need to ensure that you have the budget to maintain your mortgage repayments over the long-term. It is not right to sell your investment property when you are not good and ready since if you are to encounter any financial problems then you might be forced to dispose of the property at the wrong time.
It is less expensive to keep an investment property and service the loan once you already own the property. This is because you can get rental payments as well as tax deductions on several of the expenses connected with property ownership. Things will become easier along the way especially that as rent tend to increase over time so will your income.
Learn the taxes involved in property investment and include this in your budget. Seek advice from your accountant and learn about stamp duty, capital gains tax and land tax. While interest rates can change over time, as the owner, you can always increase the rental fee to cope with the expenses.
3. Get a Reliable Property Manager
Usually, a property manager is a licensed real estate agent whose job is to make sure that things are in order for you and your renter. Your agent can provide you advice, assist you in managing your tenants and help you get the best value for your property.
Your agent should be able to teach you about property law as well as the rights and responsibilities of both you and your tenants. The agent can also handle maintenance problems. Except for other emergency repairs, the maintenance costs should get your approval first in advance. Your agent can also assist in finding the right tenants, do background checks as well as make sure tenants pay rent on time.
4. Understand the market and the dynamics where you are buying.
Search for other properties available in your current area and talk with as many real estate agents and locals as you can. Only get advice from professionals you can trust and make sure to do the leg work. You can use the information in this site to view demographics, average rents, property values, and suburb reports.
It will be to your advantage to know about the changes that are planned or are happening in your suburb. For example, knowing about the planned by-pass may quickly enhance the value of your property as this means traffic in the area may reduce.
5. Pick the right type of mortgage to suit you.
There are a lot of financing options for an investment property. Seek advice in this area to find the option that will be in favour to your financial status.
While the interest on an investment property loan is usually deductible, some borrowing costs are not easily deductible. Appropriately structuring your loan is vital and it is best that you seek help from a trustworthy financial advisor about this.
When choosing between a fixed rate loan and a variable rate loan, go with the loan that is in favour with your circumstance. Carefully consider both options before you decide. For example, as a variable rate loan can become cheaper overtime, choosing a fixed rate loan at the appropriate time can really be beneficial.
Rather than principal and interest, a majority of the investment loans should be created as ‘interest only’ as it can enhance the effectiveness of the tax of your investment especially for a home loan. An ‘interest only’ loan is better compared to principal and interest loan when it comes to investment property since it causes your negative gearing benefit to decrease as you pay down your loan.
6. Examine the age and condition of the property and facilities.
The condition of your property and facilities can highly affect the profit of your investment. It is vital, that before making a purchase, you hire a professional property inspector to perform comprehensive inspection of the property in order to detect potential issues earlier.
7. Make the property attractive to tenants
Choose neutral tones and make sure that your property’s kitchen and bathroom is in good condition. An attractive property can attract better quality tenants. When it comes to purchasing a property, do not only consider what you think is attractive to you. What is attractive to you may not be attractive to some. Remember, that the investment property will be the home of your tenant and not your own.
8. Take a long-term view and manage your risks
Think of property investment as a long term investment and understand that property prices do not rise right away. The longer you can commit to a property, the better. When you build up equity then you can decide to purchase your second investment property. Avoid being greedy and balance your goal of financial stability and in enjoying your current life.