Going Broke: What to do When Filing for Bankruptcy

This is a Guest Post from Lizzie Weakley on Bankruptcy and how to file it without breaking yourself. Take a new kind of soup on Bankruptcy filing in her words....

Feeling the strain of your finances and the weight of unpaid debt that you've accumulated, and can be difficult to have a clear picture - how long it will take to obtain financial freedom.

From student loans to medical bills, it can be difficult to repay what you owe in a realistic time-frame. To regain the standing, bankruptcy can be the best option for relief that can jump-start your future. When deciding to file for bankruptcy, there are a few steps to be taken to start the process.

Prepare for the Cost

Although filing for bankruptcy is for individuals who may be on their last dollar, the process costs a fee due to the cost of filing the paperwork. The average cost is $1,700, but the fee can also depend on where you live. The cost must be paid in full, unless you obtain free court filing fees and legal services.

Hire a Consulting Firm

For those who decide to file for bankruptcy, the process involves plenty of paperwork and forms to fill out to complete each step. To prevent making mistakes and avoid signing your name to a document that you don't understand, you'll need to hire a consulting firm like Exelby & Partners Ltd. to ensure that the process is completed properly.

Obtain Credit Counseling

Filing for bankruptcy will harm your personal credit score, whether you already have bad credit or are in good standing. It's important to begin the process of rebuilding your score by obtaining the help of a credit counselor, which you'll be required to do within 180 days of filing.

Determine What You Qualify For

Every business who files for bankruptcy must research their options and determine what chapter they qualify for and if any assets can be kept. Chapter 7 is the most common type and includes clearing all debts while still allowing you to keep your property while you continue to make payments on the debt. Chapter 13 involves setting up a payment plan over a three to five-year time-frame.

For those who are going broke and find it difficult to repay their debt each month, filing for bankruptcy is a viable option that allows individuals to utilize their rights. By consulting the services of professionals and determining what you qualify for, it's possible to regain your financial freedom and work towards your future.

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Posted in: bankruptcy,loans,personal finance

4 Steps towards Big Data Success – [Infographics]

Data - “it is something obvious if you run a business with a lot of customers.” You have to preserve a lot of data of the customer besides you have to make sure that you can retrieve it anytime when you want them.

The amount of data that helps to get success in this present marketplace is not dependent on any factor. If you do not have the perfect marketplace to connect and analyze the vast amount of customer information you need to jam up your, then you miss something big.

Sales pipeline varies independently and with big data touching every industry and different domains, it seems that all business floats in a sea of data. According to the IDC forecasts you will get to see that the data volumes has increased by 44-fold. Do you know that for better decision-making you have to analyze and synthesize both structured and unstructured data to have growth via new business opportunities?

For many companies mostly the small business faces big issues when it comes to data management. So it is a kind of big leap for business irrespective of the size when it comes to data manipulation and management, for more details find out the infographic post below from IBM  - 4 Keys to Big Data Success.

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Posted in: big data,customer data,customer information,increased ROI,sales

5 Lead Generation Tactics Not To Put in Your Marketing Basket

Digital marketing sphere is no doubt a tough environment to initiate a sale or influence a sale for both small and mid-size business owners. The digital arena stays jam-packed with competitors and data when someone visits your website. This rising challenge keep B2B marketers stay grounded.

Making the Google searchers land on your website is just winning half the battle. Simply scanning your home page is much different from sticking to it a long time and enjoying your contents. Usually, we hold that, people browsing online has no to zero patience, so it is important to apply methods that can keep readers hooked to your website.

Inbound lead generation, well it has its own efficacy, so B2B companies must strategize each marketing moves to reap quality leads. However, looking at the current scenario if your inbound marketing strategy is to land more customers on your website, then you must be struggling with any one of these five myths.

Let us see what they are and how can we get rid of it from the next marketing plan.

#Move On! – Inbound Marketing Is Never the Sole Responsibility of Your Marketing Department

What may be the approx size of your marketing department? You might say –“it is too small. Whether small or big, it does not matter, what matters is that, your marketing department is solely responsible for carrying out all the inbound lead generation activities. Why do not your sales team and the SMEs pull their weight? It is not at all realistic that the marketing department will do all the social sharing. SMEs should also equally take part in the social sharing of the content you create.

Let us do a simple math – If you have 5 employees in the marketing team and 100 in other departments, then it is far more effective for 100 employees to share the content in their social profile than those fives in marketing team.

Marketing department alone should not create all content SMEs too should share their expertise through snackable contents. SMEs must join social groups or conversations on industry relevant blogs to establish authority and inbound links to make SEO juice.

Well, the marketing team in contrast can walk on a different path to content creation such as making a video blog, or hosting a webinar or hangout session or may share an infographic presentation with relevant data.

Let your marketing team go creative.

#Is It So! – Do We Really Create Enough Content?

B2B companies dwelling in the inbound market for less than one year lacks enough content.  Quantity besides quality is important. Creating one blog post per month is not enough. It is good to share two to three contents every week, one white paper per month and one e-book/video/ slideshare/webinar at every quarter. These numbers can vary depending on the business.

That goes for the quantity and now quality. Tap into customer service to know the issues, which troubles your customers often. If you sell products that need implementation, let your users know the best way to install it. If you sell services, tell the best practices to prepare for your service. The contents must address trending issues within the niche, as sales pitch content is not going to lure customers. They hate advertising!

#Believe it! - Numbers, Facts, Data Are for Robots Not for Humans

No matter what you sell, whether it is complex or technical, customer are human and no robots. They want you treat them as human even if they consume a highly technical content.

Stop sharing content only with brand logos. You must share contents that will have a human face. Show some humor and wear a writing style that has a personal undertone yet its delivery should reflect the technical nitty-gritty’s.  Write in a way, so that it does not sound robotic. If you think that you lack such approach, edit the content by someone who can make it crunchy. 

Spice up your content with creative design to make it more human. Even a highly technical content can gather a good number of readers with a well-designed format.

#CRM Is Not Enough –Business Needs Some More Technology

Business might have software to run critical aspects such as resource planning, distribution, accounting, HR management and customer relationship management (CRM). What is missing? Well, it is marketing automation software.

You need to have it if you are serious about inbound lead generation. With the use of a competent marketing automation system, you can plan, schedule, optimize or measure leads easily.

# Simply Gathering Leads – Who Will Follow and Track

Whether you have automated follow-up software or not, it is the right time to get your leads on the phone. If you collect 150 leads in the month of March, you must call each one of them as soon as possible after they convert. Use lead scores to tag your leads automatically as they read or download your content or click the mails to determine when the leads are ready to receive a call from you. Start following-up!

Well, besides following up your leads, measuring them is vital. Track your result with great software and generate monthly reports. Track down your campaigns individually, this will let you see overall results and will let you know which campaigns have worked the best.

Addressing all B2B marketers, if you continue to stick to these myths, then hang on you are not going to win the inbound lead generation advantage.

Commit to this popular saying “life is a marathon, not a sprint” if you want to produce sustainable inbound lead generation results.

Author's Bio: Moumita Dasgupta, a financial blogger and the owner of bizandfiz, shares her knowledge and expertise of various financial topics. A clear view on market, business, Forex, funds, personal finances etc. are the subjects she perfectly underlines through her articles.  Find Moumita on Google+

Image, Image

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Posted in: b2b lead generation,lead generation,lead generation tips

Why It Is Not Good To Pay Off The Mortgages Faster? - PART II

In the first part of this blog issue you have find some healthy tips on mortgage. It laid down the former reason why you should not pay off the mortgage faster. As payment of the mortgage for a longer time will let you enjoy lower interest rates, get enclosure against inflation, have some optimistic tax saving option and finally keep the emergency fund untouched.

After summing up the first part of this discussion let us jump into the next section where we have several other reasons to tell why paying off mortgage slowly is a benefit to the users.

·       You have a credit card debt or an auto loan to pay

You have to pay down the consumer loan first. The credit card rates are higher than the mortgage rates and the mortgage interest might offer you a tax deduction that you are unable to get a credit card or auto loan. You should start working on the consumer debt to zero before considering the pay down of mortgage.

·      Getting hold of the arbitrage

Recently online banks where paying 3.5% of interest rates. That is what you can get from a 30-year old fixed mortgage for these days. Economies are cyclical in nature and the deposit rates might return and can go even higher. You will glad to gain interest on the savings on your bank, rather bank charging you for your mortgages.

·      Failure to maintain the cash flow

Overpaying the mortgage almost seems like the stretching of finances close to the limits. If you are struck with hard times, you may not be able to make timely payments and this could put your home at risk. If you invest instead if overpaying the mortgages then you will get a great liquidity during your hard financial times. Banks are never impressed by over-payments. As the home is yours so until you pay off every penny whether sooner or later is of little concern to them.

·      You fail to save enough for your retirement

Many people make little contributions towards retirement savings. Putting the extra money towards the retirement savings is a smart move. As soon as you near your retirement max out your contributions, you can get the advantage of compounding your money. You have a fair chance to gain some extra bonus if you add up for retirement savings.

Will fail to maintain a higher credit score

If you make over-payment of your mortgages, them you are surely going to suffer from a poor credit score. Keep the largest debt account in a good position  to keep your credit limit at bay and help your credit score to soar high and thus you can continuing with your borrows.

Keeping a mortgage is not for everyone, if you have a habit to avoid debts then it is better to pay off the mortgage. If you have financial aspects in their due place, if the emergency fund is stocked well and you have a good saving for your retirement, then carrying any other debts may haunt you at night. Go ahead and clear off your mortgage payments.

If you want to take the advantage of the low interest rates then you can bypass those extra mortgage payments. However, the money you thought to invest in mortgage are valuable, so out them in better investment schemes do not concentrate on lifestyle spending with that extra money. Being purposeful with your money in the key to unlock success!!

Author's Bio: Moumita Dasgupta, a financial blogger and the owner of bizandfiz, shares her knowledge and expertise of various financial topics. A clear view on market, business, Forex, funds, personal finances etc. are the subjects she perfectly underlines through her articles.  Find Moumita on Google+

Image Courtesy: Flickr

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Posted in: tips on mortgages

Top 10 Tips to Outwit Your Competitors

Morning Readers, let us discuss something important to wake you up from the Monday Blues.

Sales Meet Goals: Outwit your competitors

Topic to Discuss: How do we outperform competitors?

Today businesses exist in a competitive environment. Companies face stiffer competition with each other to provide the best ROI for their products and services.  Businesses actually compete in many ways. Such keeping people together, especially who work for them as others are self-dependent. So the entrepreneurs are constantly thinking of ways to outwit the other business rivals.

Marketing is quite tough. So, try to make the most out of those resources in which you are best. Here, we are going to share top 10 tips to make you learn how to outsmart your competitors.

So turn on the heat this Monday morning and jump into actions.

1.       Products/Services Should Be Attractive

It is obvious that you must make your products and services more attractive in-terms of packaging and presentation. With attractive packages, clients will prefer to choose you ahead of your competitors.

2.       Affordable Services and Products

You should make the products and services more affordable, it does not necessarily mean that you will compromise the quality and quantity. Reducing the price will attract more customers, as it is a proven theory. Goods are sold more at $9.99 rather than on $10 even if the difference means nothing.

3.       Product/ Services Availability

There are companies who lost their customers because they gave them the opportunity to try out other products, when theirs were not available. Do make sure that the products are always available, in the reach of your target market.

4.       Advertisements

You need to ensure that the products and the services are always in the media, billboards and other ad tools. If people keeps on seeing and hearing the products, they will continue to support you.

5.       Boost Quality and Quantity

You need to study the competitor product, then put in the extra effort to the quality and the quantity, without increasing the price. You will be surprised to know the tactics to woo your competitor customer. You can ride on the economical scales to make some better profits.

6.       Introduce the Idea of BOGOFs (Buy One Get One Free)

You can make it a habit to give back what is due to your customers through the promos and the BOGOFs. You give these offers to the existing customers to be loyal to you and your customers via promos and existing customers. This will make your customers stay loyal and let you win over the competitor’s customers also. Ensure that the incentive you offer is attractive enough.

7.       Customer Service

You have to serve the customer with first-class experience and guarantee their patronage so that they go out to sing the praises of your brand. You can go for the mouth-to-mouth advertisement. Especially, if you want to have a satisfied customer then you have to pay attention to the advertisements.

8.       Gain Loyal Customers

You can gain loyal customers by rewarding them. You should make others know that you are not just making money out of them. It will also show that you are able to recognize the customers, not for the money they pay for your service, but the impact they have on your business.

9.       Involve Your Customers

You need to get your customers involved in the production process by seeking improvement ideas. This will help you to gain advantage over your competitors. It also indicates that you can dish out products that are tailored to meet the “need” and the “preference” of your potential prospects.

1.   Simple Use Of Your Products

In the present day, people are quite busy; hardly have time to study manuals critically before they use the product. You have to make the products easy to use and outsmart the customers, especially when they are not on the same page with you.

Get on these ten effective tips to outsmart your competitors in the target market and stay ahead. And rejuvenate your Monday with flying colors!

Author's Bio: Moumita Dasgupta, a financial blogger and the owner of bizandfiz, shares her knowledge and expertise of various financial topics. A clear view on market, business, Forex, funds, personal finances etc. are the subjects she perfectly underlines through her articles.  Find Moumita on Google+

(Image Courtesy: Flickr)

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5 Reasons Why Banks Reject Your Home Loan

Residents who aspire to own homes for their families have probably already researched on how to secure a home loan and what to do in order to secure one. However, some borrowers know little on how to get their loans approved. Before you embark on your application for a loan, consider reviewing some of the reasons below on why banks may reject your home loan:

You used your residential address on the defaulter list

One of the reasons why you may get rejection for applying for a home loan is if you use your residential address on the defaulter list. This simply means that the person who wants to apply for a loan lives in the same house of an individual who has not paid their credit card bills on time, or in a house where someone has skipped paying loans. Details like these passed onto national credit bureaus, which could then cause your loan to reject. In order to resolve this issue, tell your contact person at the bank that the family member or friend who might have applied for the loan is not dependent on you. Remember, it is applicable if the one who may have previously applied was your family member or friend. You can also stress to your contact person if your current address had a past tenant.

You constantly switch jobs

Have you changed jobs lately? If you are one of those employees, who are found switching from one job to another, then that can be one reason why they will not approve your loan. Banks as a sign of instability as you are unable to hold a regular job. The banks usually approve loans of borrowers who employed with a specific organization for a minimum amount of time to qualify for a home loan. Banks usually approve borrowers employed with a certain company from one to three years. Therefore, if you are young and you plan to apply for a loan anytime soon, you may want to stay with your current employer for a minimum of a year or switch jobs after the loan got approval. However, for older borrowers, you may want to stay longer or for a minimum of three years.

 You lie.

While filling up your loan application, ensure that all the details you provide are correct, and be sure to declare your full income from all sources, your assets, and liabilities, along with other loans you currently have. Banks will verify all your details in your application and do background-checks to see if these details are correct. Another important tip to get your loan approved is to double-check all your documents and see if you are submitting the complete list of requirements to support your application. Details that do not match missing documents and documents that look dubious can cause delays in the processing of your application—or lead to an outright rejection of the application itself.

You want to purchase an old building

Most banks do not lend money if the house you are planning to buy is an old building, especially those that are 20-30 years old. Check the policies of each bank to confirm, as the qualifications for old buildings vary for each bank. Good advice will be to increase the down payment, as the land’s value considered in the decision. You may also want to try to go for a decreased loan amount.

You have a bad credit record

One of the most obvious causes of home loan rejection is a bad credit history. If you have unpaid loans, overdue credit card bills, or a court case about any sort of financial concern that compromises your capacity to pay your financial obligations. This might reject your loan application. However, you may also be mistaken for someone with the same name who has a bad credit history, or you may have already had cleared your past record but the records were not updated. To ensure you will have no problems with future loans, get a written clearance from the banks stating that you cleared of any past loans.

Your former rejected loan application

Nowadays, banks now keep a record of all loan applications they have rejected in the past. Once you apply for a home loan, and if the lender rejected your loan previously, they will see it in the database. To resolve this, avoid applying for a loan at a bank where your loan was rejected. It is also wise not to apply at different banks at the same time. You need to wait until your loan rejects from a bank before applying to another. You might also want to ask the bank why they rejected your home loan application if the reasons are not clear to you.

Now that you have read some of the possible reasons why your home loan may be rejected, hopefully, you can do something to minimize the risks of loan rejection and successfully secure a home loan for yourself.

Good luck!

Author Bio : MichaelVincent from Money Hero contributed the article. It is the upcoming educational and financial comparison website of Hong Kong. Compare a broad range of financial products like loans and credit cards for free

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Why It Is Not Good To Pay Off The Mortgages Faster? - PART I

Mortgages are a tough financial aspect that all homeowners have to face someday or the other. Some might argue that it does not fall under the financial interest now. In fact, they take it as the last thing to do. They ask to pay of the mortgages late and make ways for the retirement savings.

There are two reasons why people argue on the fact whether or not to pay off the mortgages faster.

1. Fixed-Rate mortgages are quite cheap now.
2. Inflation and interest rates might rise in the coming future.

Here, in this article we are going to share some popular reason as to why you should not payoff the mortgages early. Check out the cool tips and stay away from the overpayment of your mortgages.

Pic Courtesy: HomeForHer

Lower interest rates can beat down your investments

This is the common argument that financial experts face while clients ask about while paying down their mortgages. Today low-interest-rates have affected the market environment, and hence it allows people to lock 3.25% mortgage. Thus, you can invest all the extra money into the index fund and join the profitable share in the stock market.

Maintaining a mortgage is an enclosure against inflation

There are instances when we find that our clients have paid down the mortgages quite early. They look down as this process as a way to save large for the future, but what you got to save now was larger when you paid down the mortgage, however now it is nothing more than peanuts. Price all around us goes up and hence having that one bill will remain the same. The payment becomes cheaper with time.

Get some awesome tax savings

As soon as you buy a home, you get loaded with sweet packages of tax breaks to keep more money away from the government and put more money in the bank. You can deduct the interest on your mortgage payments, real estate taxes, points paid on the mortgage, mortgage insurance or if you have  a small business.

You screw up yourself while saving for the emergency funds

Before you send the extra dollar to your mortgage company, but strengthen your cash reserves. You might be saving large on interest than you earn through the bank account. What will happen if you lose your job? The bank is not going to give you a loan, as you are unemployed. 

Check out for more cool tips in the last part and see what you can do with your mortgage this season.

Author's Bio: Moumita Dasgupta, a financial blogger and the owner of bizandfiz, shares her knowledge and expertise of various financial topics. A clear view on market, business, Forex, funds, personal finances etc. are the subjects she perfectly underlines through her articles.  Find Moumita on Google+

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Posted in: tips on mortgages