Pacific Business Tips

Archive for March, 2010

Direct mail advertising has been proven to be a very effective marketing tool for businesses in Miami FL. Catalog mailing is one very important aspect of direct mail advertising that you need to look into and maximize in order to grow your Miami FL business.

There are many proven advantages to catalog mailing. In fact, it is considered to be one of the best ways to sell products and services. Some 167 million consumers per year make purchases from mailed catalogs. Each buyer on the average places some 11 orders a year. That’s 1.8 billion sales transactions per year. The combined purchases of individual consumers and businesses from catalog mailings per year come to about $150 billion. Wouldn’t you want a slice of that huge pie?

According to statistics, roughly half of existing consumers shop online based on print catalogs they have received by mail. Once a consumer has received a mailed catalog, he or she is more than twice as likely to buy something online from it. Online sellers generate the most number of online sales through customers who order from print catalog mailing. These customers spend 16% more on the average as compared to customers who did not receive mailed catalogs. Catalog customers are also more likely to become frequent repeat buyers online, with repeat transactions adding an average of 15% more sales. Indeed, having a print catalog on hand is a very convenient reference material for consumers while deciding on purchases to be made online.

Having the print catalog in your target market’s homes or offices also serves as a constant reminder to them of your products and services even while they are offline. It has been observed that 59% of recipients of catalog mailings keep the catalogs for a minimum of three months or until a new catalog arrives in the mail. Imagine the exposure your business gets and the marketing potential in that period.

The distinct advantage of catalog mailings is that they allow your consumers to place their orders online or by phone or mail, if they please. If your brick and mortar store happens to be in the same locality, the catalog mailing will also send you walk in shoppers who would want to see your merchandise first hand.

Of course, you have to make sure that your catalog displays your products and services at their best. Choose a size and design that is most appropriate for your business and that will stand out in the midst of competition. Remember that your target market receives numerous catalogs by mail. Billions of catalogs are actually sent throughout the United States every year.

Avoid having a catalog that looks unprofessional or shoddy. That will reflect very badly on your business image. And will backfire on your goals. Do not cram too much information or images on each page. Make sure that your colors are attractively pleasing to the eye. Check your copy for errors, inaccuracies and vagueness. If possible, hire a professional catalog designer who will know how to lay out your pages for optimum effect, as well as a professional copy writer who can use words to your best advantage. Also ensure that your catalog is printed at the highest quality, looking crisp and inviting. It would be best if you could test a prototype before finally having your catalog printed out in bulk.

Find a reputable mail house that offers catalog mailing services along with business mailings and other fulfillment services, such as presort services, which you will need in your bulk mail advertising campaign. Postal services alone will not be enough for your needs unless you are willing to do much of the work yourself in-house.

Also known as seller financing, owner financing is growing in popularity in today’s economy. With the credit markets slowing down and people finding it harder and harder to borrow, owner financing is looking better and better as an alternative to traditional financing. Owner financing is when the seller of the property basically agrees to take payments rather than a lump sum. Here are a few things that need to happen in order for the owner to be able to finance your deal:

The owner needs to have considerable equity in the property. The owner will usually have their own mortgage they will need to pay back in full when they sell the property to you. If they don’t have a whole lot of equity, they usually can’t offer to finance a whole lot of the deal. The best scenario is an older owner that is close to retirement. Odds are that they have a good amount of equity or even own the property free and clear. They are looking to retire and just want a steady cash flow rather than a lump sum when they sell the place. The owner should have a desire to accept owner financing. If the seller wants to roll the funds over into another property or needs the lump sum of cash for one reason or another, they probably won’t want to take on very much seller financing. The terms need to be right for both parties. The interest rate, duration and repayment structure need to be acceptable for both parties. This usually requires a good deal of negotiation.

If you have all your ducks in a row and seller financing seems like it might be a possibility, here are some of the benefits to consider if you are thinking about locking in owner financing:

You might not have to get traditional financing. This depends on how much the owner is willing to finance. If they are willing to finance just a little bit, this might help you lower your down payment or help you qualify for traditional financing, but won’t completely eliminate traditional financing unless you pay the remaining amount due as a down payment. You could get more flexible terms than you would on a standard mortgage. You have the power of negotiating so that both the buyer and the seller walk away with a fair deal. You typically can’t do this with a traditional bank. The seller is still somewhat on the hook for the property. You know that you aren’t getting totally ripped off, because the seller still hasn’t received all their money. There is a possibility that you could pay a little bit of a premium for the deal. If they end up totally screwing you, and the property completely falls apart in a few years and you let it fall into foreclosure, the seller only stands to get the property back. The seller isn’t going to want to lend to you using a bum property as collateral.

If owner financing seems like it would work for you, there is no reason to start looking for properties for sale with owner financing. Even if a property isn’t advertised as offering owner financing, you may be able to talk with any seller and see if they are willing to negotiate on terms.

When just starting a business, or extending an existing one, there is definitely going to be some sort of debt involved. This debt should only be what you would expect it to be, and what is covered within your business plan. If your business doesn’t do well, you will have a price to pay, especially when it comes to your businesses future.

Having a business credit card is an ideal way to purchase things that are necessary in order for your small business or new business to succeed. This card is similar to the line of credit that is given to larger and further established companies.

The fastest way to get a business credit card is to apply online. It works similarly to a personal credit card and it needs to be used responsibly so that you and your business can avoid going into a debt trap that is extremely hard to escape from.

You probably appreciate how credit card companies feel when people do not meet their payments when they should be met, or those people who skip an entire payment altogether. This will probably happen from time to time with your own customers. If you are having problems making the payment by the due date, you can easily ask the company to alter the date so that you can avoid late fees or fees for not paying at all.

The business credit card comes with a lot of benefits. It can be seen as a privilege loan and can be used when needed. However, this should only be taken advantage of when there is no other choice. If you keep visiting the ATM and taking out $100 here and $250 there in place of a cash system, it all soon adds up, and the high interest will come into the picture because many credit cards put high rates on advances that are much higher than the balance on the card. It’s very important that basic bills are paid each month. To do this, set up direct payment from your business credit card online to the vendors you work with.

Instead of distributing many checks to different people, you can simply write out one check to cover all of them. This makes accounting a lot easier. This also allows you to keep track of payments records that can be checked at any time.

All businesses at some point will deal with fluctuations, some are predictable because of the season, and others are unexpected. This is why it can become very important to keep up with debt payments so that you have things to fall back on if need be.

A good credit rating comes in handy at times when you need to do cash advances. You will have met your payments on time and you will have used your card how it should be used. This will help you make it through leaner spells.