Interactive Web Success

Most companies depend on referrals to help grow business; we all want to be on the receiving end of positive buzz and great word-of-mouth advertising. A recent study of consumer behavior says that Word-of-Mouth (WOM) influences purchasing behavior more than any form of advertising. As consumers, each of us has been both the influencer and the one being influenced by a recommendation, referral or warning about a product or service. As a business owner you can wait and hope that satisfied customers will spread the word or you can encourage WOM by incorporating a few well-chosen tactics.

Loyalty Programs
We all use them. Right now I receive a discount on gasoline from the grocery store where I shop, I have 3 loyalty cards from retailers that send gift certificates as user rewards, and cards from two coffee shops that offer “free” drinks after I buy way too many $4.35 drinks. Yes, I have told at least one person about each of those fabulous offers…WOM.

Sampling
My daughter loves to go to the grocery store to try all the foods that are sampled. I have made purchasing decisions based on her recommendations and her enthusiasm sometimes instigates other shoppers to try the samples. I love letting my friends in on the latest, greatest deli item, dip or whatever that we “found” at the store…WOM.

Gift with Purchase
Cosmetic companies are famous for GWP’s that drive immediate sales (you must make a minimum purchase to receive the gift) but more importantly, the GWP is usually a new product, which drives future sales. Ask any woman, this stuff works—we can’t wait to share the details with our friends…WOM.

Networking Groups
Every day thousands of salespeople from every conceivable type of business meet over breakfast as part of a very organized effort to “network.” Membership requires offering endorsements for fellow group members to contacts outside of the group…WOM.

Email Marketing
Take a look at nearly every e-letter or direct marketing email you receive and you’ll see somewhere a note to “Forward to a Friend.” Easy to do, non-invasive, and even though no words are spoken…WOM!

Give your customers something to talk about and they will spread your message. Give them something great to talk about and a bit of a nudge, and you can set your WOM campaign in motion.

Claudia Trusty develops strong marketing and branding messages that drive results for small and mid-size companies. For twenty years Trusty and Company has produced communication solutions for clients in retail and service industries. Visit them on the web at
http://trustyandcompany.com/.

So you bought yourself a radio Controlled Hovercraft, but wonder why your pet hamster should have all the fun. Well now, adrenalin junkies can now purchase their own marine leisure hovercraft, and learn to levitate a little.

As an alternative to Jet Skis, RIBs, Quad Bikes etc, leisure hovercraft are certainly more fun to drive. In the first place, they are truly all-terrain - you can drive them straight out of the sea and up the beach, or use them on grass, explore tidal estuaries, stop to collect a few shell fish perhaps, or have a picnic on the sands, with room enough for three adults. Guaranteed to raise a smile.

Start the engine, and your skirt will fill with air, lifting you 8 inches clear of the ground, so you are up and away. Open the throttle, and the craft will pick up speed, up to 50 mph depending on the size of your engine. No need to find a slipway, any beach or riverbank should do. No need to check tide data, you’ll rise above sand and mud, and while strong currents are a concern for boats, hovercraft are not in contact with the water, so rise above that sort of problem. No need to check your depth meter, you have no propeller to worry about, just levitate and drive. Submerged rocks or coral? Just gloss over them. Hovercraft have very real advantages over more conventional marine craft; while you are out having fun on the sand flats, boaties and jet Skiers will be checking their clocks and tide tables.

Are they easier to drive? It takes just ten minutes to understand the basics; you just use a normal handlebar for steering with twist grip throttle. Steer to the left or right, and the rudders will direct the air accordingly. Once you have mastered the basics, the real fun begins. The thrill of driving a small hovercraft is difficult to describe, as you have more freedom to express yourself. Floating on a cushion of air at speed, you get the feeling that perhaps you are on a magic carpet, or anti-gravity skateboard. You can do 180 turns up the beach, or perpetual 360s, 720 spins and so on. As you can drive on both sea and land, you’ll probably want to combine both in a little beach hugging exercise. You can turn in graceful loops, or slide and glide where the mood takes you. These craft make great rescue and patrol vehicles - you can access areas that are simply out of bounds for any other craft - over ice for example, so go where snowmobiles fear to tread. Bigger yachts use them as tenders.

At the end of the day, while other marine craft are hauled onto their trailers, (no fun retrieving boats on cold days) you can simply park up the beach and step out onto dry land. For further information, please visit http://www.hovpod.com

Manufactured in Southampton, England, close to where the first Hovercraft were developed and tested, the Hov Pod is enjoying tremendous success and is now being exported all over the world.

Congratulations on your pending nuptials! You have a ring, a date has been set, and all is right with the world. If you are just starting to plan out your wedding day, you know that there are many steps you must take on the way to organizing your big event. Sure, you could hire the services of a wedding planner to do much of the grinding legwork for you, but likely you will want to be involved in making most of the arrangements yourself with the assistance of your future spouse, of course. So, where should you start? Online, of course! Yes, there are many terrific benefits in planning a wedding online. Let’s explore what they are and how you and your intended can harness the internet to your advantage.

Savvy couples have discovered that an important part of successfully planning a wedding online involves doing some research. Click on Google, enter certain search words such as “wedding dj” or “wedding photographer” and numerous results will pop up. By searching within these same results you can further narrow down the list by entering in your city and state. The final Google produced list should be much more manageable to sort through.

Those wedding vendors who really want your business will have attractive and easy to navigate web sites listed in the Google results for your perusal. Planning a wedding online has never been easier as you can review a photographer’s portfolio; listen to sample music clips; watch video clips; tour reception sites; uncover valuable honeymoon information; and much more. Contact those vendors who strike your fancy and ask them for price information, availability, and references. Most will accept an email message from you or have an easy to fill out form on their site whereby you can receive additional information. Planning a wedding online can help you to reduce stress by allowing you to weed out vendors ahead of time: you contact them on your own terms to keep everything under your control.

Some couples use email as an important part of planning a wedding online. By sending out “hold that date” notices to invitees, guests can be notified well in advance of the wedding date and reserve that date on their calendars. Later, you can follow up with the formal invitations and, yes, you can order those online too!

Other benefits of planning a wedding online include:

Gift registries can be set up on the internet or at your local retail store and made available to your guests online no matter where they live. Guests will be able to review your list, select the item they want to give to you, order it online, and ship it directly to your home address.

Do you know which stores in your area sell bridal and gown outfits? If you aren’t sure, there is plenty of information online to help you sort all of that out. Even tuxedo rentals can be ordered online, although an in person fitting is still recommended.

Additional online wedding planning can include finding party favors, buying disposable cameras, shopping for bridal gifts, and locating just about everything else related to the event. Some couples create separate web sites loaded with pictures, driving directions, menus, gift registry information, and more. If that sounds like too much work for you, there are sites that will allow you to set up your information with them. Simply enter “planning a wedding online” in your search parameters to get the best results.

Yes, planning a wedding online can be used to your advantage. The end result is time and money saved and stress avoided. Use the internet today to make planning a wedding online a reality for you and your intended.

Click here for more in-depth information about online wedding planning.

Michael Brito is an internet marketing consultant and freelance writer for a variety of consumer related products.

A recently conducted survey discloses that en vogue nightwear pieces are the number one on the shopping list warranted to cause women young and old to convince themselves they are really beautiful. The number one in the extravagant night attire market space, Myla is a noted English business hailing from London, England subscribing to preparing women young and old to feel beautiful and vigorous in en vogue ladies’ sleepwear. Their lineup of products takes in beguiling silk & lace suspenders and, as well, underwired bras, lovely nightwear including, too, luxury edition bed-room nipple tassels.

For the absolute in amorous delectation the Myla sales team offers the most unconventional nightwear pieces in luxury fabric encompassing pure silk, silk chiffon, knitted lace including, too, gossamer mesh. Aiming at flirty modern females it stands to reason that there are brassieres plus, as well, tie-side ruffle back knickers, triangle bras plus, as well, conforming silk and lace thongs and silk and lace suspenders let alone lovely kittenish babydolls in silk chiffon and knitted lace. Their stylish product line offers shell lace basques, skirted hipsters, silk satin camisoles including, too, long satin halter nightcaps. If your ambition is unmixed beguiling attractiveness, we advocate a spicy cup underwired lace bra or that padded plunge bra touched up with skirted hipsters and a silk suspender perfected with silk stockings. As an insider tip for the boudoir, you can get first rate high gloss structured satin and tulle lace up bodices, tie-side ruffle back knickers, panty slips, sheer g-strings and silk and lace fasteners.

As for luxury edition bed-room stimulation toys we advocate silk satin tie-ups, satin high heels, silk stockings, silk and lace suspenders and seductive fragrant lavender passion candles. Inveigle and seduce with feather ticklers, feather fluff & silk tie ups, silk blindfolds, lascivious scented massage oil, yummy body paints made from chocolate sauce or a kittenish paddle. For the absolute luxury edition nipple tassels, the Myla sales team offers a wide collection of erotic enhancement toys exclusively developed by a mass of great artists. Devotees can choose between a comprehensive products lineup encompassing the sleek look sex toys by Habitat Creative Director Tom Dixon, the stimulating platinum bow engraved vibrator by Jimmyjane or Japanese ceramicist Mari Oda’s massage pebble.

Myla - presenting the best in luxury female underwear!

Would you like to avoid hiring mistakes, if possible? The following are tips from executives interviewed especially for this article.

The secret to hiring “winners” is:
Know the job and your company’s culture, then find the correct person to fill the job.

Hiring mistakes are very costly. Estimates range from 1-10 times the annual salaries, with the general consensus being 3 times the annual salary. This is based on recruiting and training the wrong candidate (the mistake), waiting for the productivity that does not come, removing the person, dealing with morale and sabotage, replacing and training the next candidate. If you have an engineer or mid-level manager that earns $80,000 - $100,000 this can be a cost to your company of $240,000 to $300,000 for just one mistake!

90% of all hiring decisions are made by an interview. Interviewing is 14% accurate according to Michigan State University. This percentage can increase if you have hiring managers that are really well trained or if their intuition is very well developed. The training for interviewers must be extensive because as Victoria Perrault, VP of AFC says, there are “obvious problems” when the hiring interviews are a “fly by the seat of your pants” experience. She is leading AFC into a “Success Profile” approach to benchmark the critical success factors. Yvonne Myers, Director of HR at Legacy Marketing group (a 540 person insurance sales & marketing business), has found results to be “dead on” for their E.Q.I. Profile which creates a “footprint” (benchmark) which helps develop specific interview questions that determine the soft-skill competencies of their candidates for job success. These insure that the candidates will be the “right fit” for their organization.

More companies are assessing the competencies necessary for specific jobs within their specific cultures. Some companies are benchmarking their personnel and selecting the top performers and comparing assessment results with their poorest performers to discover the patterns of success that are required for top production and satisfaction on the job. More fortune 500 companies report that they are using assessments, which is up from 15% in 1985 to 30% in 1996 and expected to hit over 50% by 2002.

The assessments are also used for staff development, planning training, and to aid managers finding the ideal motivation for specific staff members.

Kent Sherwood, CEO of Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, emphasized the need for “integrity” as the highest quality for leadership candidates. He also looks for honesty, reliability, follow through, and straight talking. Good candidates must have the skill set necessary or have the “inclination to learn in a reasonable time” with the appropriate personality to blend with the existing culture.

Fred Philpott, VP of Human Resources for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, uses a model to check for winning characteristics which include:

A.) Technical/experience

B.) Behavior: drive, urgency, ethics, Integrity, open communication, business acumen, global-strategic thinking, teaming-partnering, consensus, quick decisions,

C.) Bottomline ability to influence and persuade

Two of three companies either use recruiters or have used recruiters to get qualified candidates to interview. The other companies rely on internal referral and developing leaders from within the organization (which is a great retention strategy.)

Hiring Winners Checklist:

1. Know the job - skills, experience, soft-skills, competencies. Develop clear expectations.

2. Know your company’s culture (Mission, Vision, Values)

3. Benchmark your top and bottom performers (assess the styles, behaviors and attitudes of your winners!)

4. Develop your interview process to adequately assess candidates’ necessary soft-skills

5. Hire the Right People for the Right Job!

6. Support and develop your key talent. Get them to love your company!

7. Continuously re-assess your hiring process.

W. Edwards Deming said, “If a person is not performing as expected, it is probably because they have been miscast for the job.”

Special thanks to all the business leaders who contributed their business wisdom and experience including (in order of interview dates):

Kent Sherwood, CEO of Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa

Deborah Meekins, President and CEO of Sonoma National Bank

Greg Peters, President and CEO of Mahi Networks

Victoria Perrault, VP of Administrative Services of AFC

Seritta White, CEO of S.K. White Consulting

Fred Philpott, VP of Human Resources of Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates

Rob Thorson, Manager of Human Resources of Westamerica Bank

Shirley Gordon, VP for Northern California of State Farm Insurance

Yvonne Myers, Director of Human Resources of Legacy Marketing Group

Martin Grove, District Manager of State Compensation Insurance Fund

Paul Herrerias, CEO of Herrerias & Associates

This executive summary is based on interviews and research conducted by L. John Mason, Ph.D. of the Stress Education Center.

For a detailed report on the Hiring Winners and Retaining Key Personnel please contact Dr. Mason at mason@dstress.com or (707) 795-2228. Ask about a proposal for benchmarking your top performers with special assessments that are designed to help you match their behaviorals and attitudes with potential new hires.

L. John Mason, Ph.D. is the author of the best selling “Guide to Stress Reduction.” Since 1977, he has offered Executive Coaching and Training.

Please visit the Stress Education Center’s website at http://www.dstress.com for articles, free ezine signup, and learn about the new telecourses that are available. If you would like information or a targeted proposal for training or coaching, please contact us at (707) 795-2228.

If you are looking to promote your training or coaching career, please investigate the Professional Stress Management Training and Certification Program for a secondary source of income or as career path.

A Question on Internet: If a person is terminally ill, has
excruciating pain that can’t be relieved, and/or is so
frustrated that they can’t do anything for themselves anymore
and desires to die, is mercy killing a viable option?

1) Corbin says: I personally don’t feel that I can do this, but
at the same time I feel it really would be a tough choice to
make if a request like this were made.

2) Sandra says: A very sensitive subject indeed. However, life
is precious to the Creator and his son so there really would be
many things to consider. What really is mercy killing? My mother
became ill with a terminal illness, and she had us sign a
document not to use any artificial means to prolong her life. We
did this and felt it was right, although I’m not sure you’d call
this mercy killing.

3) Susan says: For one thing, I really don’t think that anyone
who hasn’t first-hand experience with someone they love, dying
in excruciating agony over a long/short term, can really
understand the full-depth of this. My father died at the age of
48 after a long and excruciatingly painful illness, despite
taking many painkillers. He was a strong Believer and did not
ask anyone to relieve him of his suffering through mercy
killing. I myself don’t know whether I could stand the agony my
father had to go through in his illness. Therefore I really
think people should have this choice of assisted suicide. On the
other hand, I know a couple who had a baby who doctors said had
no chance of living a normal life, yet at the age of 4, this boy
was living as normal alife as any normal 4 year old boy would.

4) Tom says: A number of people have asked me to help them die,
but I couldn’t do it. The only thing I did was to allow a person
the blessing of release from this life.

5) Pamie says: My human self often feels the choice should be
the individuals, my spiritual self feels God is giving the
experience of this suffering for some purpose. I so wish the 2
selves would meet at times.

6) Sarah says: I think that there is a strong case for allowing
people who are terminally ill and suffering dreadfully to die
with dignity, and if they are unable to do it for themselves, I
think that they should be allowed to be helped to die. It is
almost certainly not according to Christian principles, but
neither is forcing people to undergo appalling suffering and
complete loss of dignity, not to mention the knowledge that
their families and friends are also suffering watching them go
through this. It really would be easier to ask a doctor to
administer an overdose or whatever than to do it yourself.
However, I believe that if I loved the sufferer very much I
would be able and willing to do it. I cannot speak for anyone
else. The problem then would be: Would I love the person enough
to go to prison for it? That’s hard. I don’t know.

The names of the commentarians have been changed, except for
myself, to protect the privacy of the Internet contributors, but
their comments are accurate.

A Dr Ken Evoy’s “Getting Started Action Guide.” Review
By George Rusky
Prague-2005

Dear Reader,
I want to start with the purpose of the e-book “Get Started Action Guide”

The goal of this 128 pages book is not stated by the writer either in the introduction or in any other part of the Guide.

Unusual?

There’s here is a special reason for that: “Getting started Action Guide” is not written for all!

The book is a start line for only those who joined the 5 Pillar Affiliate Program.
A free gift! A privilege for chosen!

For the rest of the readers, the book is not available, even for money!
(If I hadn’t joined the ranks of 5 Pillar Affiliate Program, I would have never known about that this wonder-book existed )

Now I exactly know, that the Guide was written: To get off to a FAST and Organized affiliate start.

In his welcome e-mail to new affiliates Ken writes: “To really ORGANIZE your 5 Pillar Business, please print thise-mail and keep it in a 3-ring binder.

But don’t close that binder just yet… Add a printed copy of the “Getting Started Action Guide” aswell. Our very best cream-of-the-crop strategies are allbundled together for personal one-stop value-packed reading.(Downloading details will follow.)Your binder is your blueprint for success. Refer to itoften — especially, each time a new product is launched…”
(Dr Ken Evoy’s welcome message sent to me 1.9.2004)

The next set of goals is explained in the “Read me first” documents that introduces new affiliates to the Guide:

“The “Getting Started Action Guide” is your personal road map
to success. Everything you need to know about building a
profitable affiliate business is included in the Guide - in
an easy-to-read, easy-to-follow pdf. format.”

Let me repeat the main goal of the Guide:

“An affiliate is given a personal road map to success”

Based on years of his and others’ experiences with affiliate programs, the author produced the manual that sponged the most usable push-ups for 5 Pillar Program Affiliates.

Educating affiliates, preparing them for grasping the elements of making money with the program, developing the affiliate business, Ken Evoy sees as the crucial task of the book.

By the way, the author doesn’t invent any passwords, any codes to protect “Getting Started Action Guide” from those affiliates who join the program just for getting the access to the Guide and other amazingly richly written unique affiliate sources, such as Affiliate Manual, Affiliate Masters Courses, and the like…

Of course you may say: ” Who is, actually Dr Ken Evoy and why should we believe him more than anyone else?!”
Find the answer under the closing notes of the review.

The Contents of the Guide.

Part One.

Dr Evoy treats his affiliates as “partners-in-sales” and therefore provides everything his business partners will ever need to launch their affiliate business.

The First chapter is dedicated to the products of the company SiteSell, the Brand.
The author believes that knowing the products you sell is the only possibility to lead a potential client to the purchase, to help her to pay for the product.
A short list of products’ benefits occupies the first chapter of the Guide.

I personally agree with this approach: I’ve always been able to convince my listeners to do something I liked doing.

Here, at this stage, the author doesn’t overwhelm the readers with the detailed information about the products, some main lines for general orientation.

I can agree with that too. Every product has its description on the company’s site, anyway.

The 5 Pillar Program itself is the product. The chapter four gives the basic model for the 5 Pillar Program.

A few words should be said about the system of calculating commissions.
Full of acronyms, like CoTTE (Stands for Commission on Total Team Earnings,) RPSC (Repeat-Purchase Sales Commission,) and the like, do not make a fresh affiliate’s life easier, at first, it needs time for understanding and training, but with money it’s always just that

Fifth Chapter is about the 5 Pillar Club Web Site

The Club is the real place where everything for affiliate business is ‘on the plate with the blue border.’

I’m not going to numerate the long list of the tools and strategies awaited there. It’s something that just must be seen.

The last word about this chapter: the writer takes the responsibility to send you weekly
The Five Pillar Affiliate Report.

80-20 Guide is the title of the 6th chapter.

This is the chapter-guide to the “very best traffic-building, business-growing ideas and strategies for PREselling SiteSell products”
The first time in the book, Ken states the biggest mistake that affiliates make. The most tragic misunderstanding of the affiliate concept: ignoring the basic platform of Preselling Your Merchant’s Products, the pivotal philosophy of the affiliate business.
Those readers who have never heard about Preselling and try to earn a good living with affiliate business are simply doomed to fail.

My recommendation right away:
“Stop Everything and grasp the copy of Getting Started Action Guide as soon as you can, unless it is too late.

I have to admit, that Ken provides some links to various sources with relevant information, which, I guess, makes it hard to read line after line, jumping from one site to the other.
But, again, it’s my experience.

6.2 Part II… Get Set

Nine Steps of the Successful affiliate. Pages 59-66. Read - Do module.

When I start working with affiliates who are confused with the wealth of affiliating-related sources, I always recommend them to stop and come back to the basics: Getting Started Action Guide.
This book is not a report of historical events of the first decade of the nineteenth century in the southern Bohemia.
This manual is not for reading!
It’s for doing
With pointing finger on a Step One: “Convert by PREselling”
Read what to do and ask yourself: “Am I going to do it?” or ” Have I done it jet?”
Yes? Great. Tick.
Step Two: “Checklist… Know Yourself, Your Products, Your Target…”
“Have I checked that jet?” and so forth, all nine steps.

Chapter 6.3 Part Three

On 25 pages are introduced 14 strategies, the essence of building rocket-launch affiliate long-run business.
This part is pictured with the perspective of dynamically developed teamed cooperation of affiliates-the foundation of stable growing constantly money making organism.

At the same time, I must admit that a reader with elementary knowledge of business basics and affiliate one in particular, can get easily lost.
Ken’s philosophy of “Information-Information-Information over-delivering” may lead to the opposite effect: a future affiliate “magnate” will never become one.
Lost and never found in the ocean of Information.

More and more often I bump into the question of how to decide whose “guruing” to follow.
So, dear readers, be prepared to get over-delivered.
But, if you are well-organized, well-trained to arrange your doing progress, Get Starting Action Guide is your choice.

A special section is devoted to “Frequently Asked Questions,” a friendly dialogue between affiliates and the author of 5 Pillar Affiliate Program.

A conclusion of the Author, or as he wrote, the Wrap-Up

Ken writes: “Well, that just about it. Everything you need to succeed with your 5 Pillar Affiliate Business is contained with in…”

First, when I read that for the first time I begged: “Sorry Ken for interrupting. It’s just theory. Bare theory.
Who will inspire, motivate, even force me to do all you have numerated in Get Starting Action Guide?!”

“All you have to do,” continues Ken, “is get started. Once you do SOMEthing, whatever appeals to you most, “DOING” becomes easier and easier…and income becomes bigger and bigger…”

Well, guys, isn’t it the right time we got started?

Conclusion of the author of the Review.

The significance of the “Getting started Guide” is difficult to overestimate.
Experts of affiliate business (when you go to join the 5 Pillar Affiliate, see link below,) unanimously accepted the uniqueness of the material.
If I could vote for the only one training manual for affiliate business, I would stop my eye on this book.
Getting Started Action Guide is the first book in the series of affiliate materials written by Dr Ken Evoy.
The next one is called 5 Pillar Manual. The amazing trio crowns The Affiliate Masters Course.

George Rusky
www.worldsbest-affiliate-program.com
georgerusky@worldsbest-affiliate-program.com

P.S. All information about Ken Evoy and his 5 Pillar Program
You may find when you click on the web site above
or send me an e-mail.

About the author:

George Rusky, a resident of Prague, the Czech Republic 27 years of experience n the area of education and consulting affiliate coach for the owners of small businesses

The number of people who are engulfed by debt trap is increasing. When people start taking out loan, they do not realise what this will lead to. Using multiple credit cards and taking out small amounts of Unsecured Loans has become a norm. Borrowers believe this will not create a problem as they keep up with their payments. The problem begins once they take out a relatively bigger amount of loan. The borrowers fail to keep a track of all their outstanding loans. When they pay their credit card bills, they miss out at other loan repayments. This situation becomes gloomy when creditors start sending legal notices. This may even lead to bankruptcy.

You can avoid this by consolidating your debt. Debt consolidation involves taking out a fresh loan to repay unpaid credit card bills and existing loans. This will help you keep a track of your debt. This will also reduce your interest burden since the rate of interest on a Debt Consolidation Loan
is lower than the rate on other loans. The lender may allow you to spread your loan repayment over a longer time period that will allow you to pay a small amount of monthly installments.

Secured Loans are the most suitable for the purpose of debt consolidation. Since the rate of interest on a secured loan is lower than an unsecured loan, it can help you consolidate your debt. Besides low rates of interest, secured loans also offer flexible repayment terms and allow you to pay a small amount of monthly installments. You can take out a homeowner loan to consolidate your debt. A homeowner loan is secured against your house. If your house is partially mortgaged, you can take out a home equity loan to release that equity that is tied up in your house. This loan can be used for debt consolidation.

Unsecured Loans can also solve the purpose of debt consolidation. Such loans do not require collateral. They are ideal for tenants as they do not own a house. The most common type of unsecured loans is personal loans. Personal loans are readily available and you do not need to cite any reason for applying for such loans.

About The Author:

The author is a business writer specializing in finance and credit products and has written authoritative articles on the finance industry. He has done his masters in Business Administration
and is currently assisting Easy-debt-consolidation-loan as a finance specialist.

For more information please visit http://www.easy-debt-consolidation-loan.co.uk

If you own or manage a small business, you know how much time can be spent chasing down paper invoices, purchase orders and sales reports. It can be a real nightmare! That is where billing software comes in. It allows you to record all your customers, sales, invoices, inventory, suppliers (and more) in a PC-based system that is easy to use.

Deciding that you need to invest in good quality billing software is not hard. The tricky part can be choosing the right software package for your requirements. There are dozens of systems on the market claiming to be the holy grail of all your business problems, but choosing the wrong one can cost you valuable time and money.

Here’s a simple checklist of 11 things to look for when purchasing billing software for your small business:

1) Customer records
This is the core element of any billing system. What sort of information do you need to record about your customers? There’s the obvious things like address, phone, fax, mobile, email and web address. But what about marketing-related information like “how did the customer find out about your business?”, and “standard discounts” for key clients.

2) Multiple contacts & Communication history
If many of your clients are businesses with multiple contacts, can you record individual contact details for each person? Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising, and statistics show that one of the most important factors in customer satisfaction is good customer service. Have you thought about keeping a log of all communication with your customers? It can be extremely helpful for improving internal communication within your business, and results in a more personalised service for your clients.

3) Multiple shipments
Obviously your billing software will need to create sales orders - that’s a gimme. But do you need to record employee-related information, like who the “salesperson” was? What about flexible dispatch options, like multiple shipments per sales order?

4) Search facility
There’s no point recording all this really useful information if there’s no easy way to get to it. Check that the search facility is flexible and easy to use. What criteria can you search by? Here are a couple useful fields you may want to use: customer phone number, customer address, order date, dispatch date and dispatch consignment number.

5) Tax & regional support
Are you able to change the tax rates on an order line basis? What about currency formatting? If you and your clients are in Europe, then there’s no point using billing software that can only handle US dollars.

6) Reporting
Producing accurate reports in seconds is something you no longer have to dream about. In fact it is a necessity in today’s competitive market. Ensure your billing software can calculate information on sales based on date, salesperson and customer type. If you operate a B2B business, another key performance indicator may be dispatch totals, based on date, and employee. But one important thing to remember about software… you can only get out what you put in. So if you are looking for a specific report, make sure that information is being recorded by your billing software package.

7) Backup
I’ve seen first-hand how devastating a hardware failure can be. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of data can be destroyed in seconds… if you do not have a backup procedure in place. Ensure you select a billing software package that has a built-in backup utility or works with your current backup system.

Online help & support
If you’re a new computer user, then you’ll definitely need a software package that has a comprehensive online and easy-to-use help system. Also check out what direct technical support is available through the vendor. Some software companies charge very high fees for personal support, so ensure you include this in your budget.

9) Budget
How much are you going to spend? That really depends on the complexity of the software package you are looking for. Smaller software packages can be found under US$100, and larger more complex packages can cost well over US$3000. Take a look at the number of customers you have, the number of sales orders you process, and choose a solution that fits your business.

10) Customisations
If you purchase an off-the-shelf billing software package, you may require minor customisations to suit your unique business processes and industry. Some software vendors offer customisations at quite reasonable prices. But ensure you include this cost in your budget.

11) Other features
What else do you want from you billing software? If you deal with fixed price products, you may need a comprehensive inventory management system allowing you to purchase stock, manage inventory levels and supplier relations. Some quality software packages also include a useful follow-up diary, allowing you to keep track of tasks and assign them to other staff members.

When choosing a billing software package for your business, make sure you check that it offers everything your business needs. And then the only thing you’ll have to worry about is what to do with all your newly found spare time!

Josh Bender is an experienced database developer and qualified software engineer. He helps small-to-medium businesses streamline processes and improve efficiency using reliable and proven software solutions.
Take a free test drive of ‘InstantSalesTracker’, easy-to-use billing software: www.InstantSalesTracker.com

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