Before a divorce, during, and after getting a divorce you need to concern yourself with credit... credit establishment, credit files and credit scores. Though divorce and credit is a concern for both men and woman, woman tend to have the greater credit difficulty due to societal standards. Therefore, I encourage woman of any age or marital status to learn as much as possible from this and other articles.
But for all men and woman, essential credit and financial matters must be addressed when contemplating a divorce in order for either and/or both parties to fiscally survive. Even if legally divorced, until finances are divorced, there is still a partnership as will soon be apparent.
Here are some key points concerning credit that should be dealt with.
Joint Accounts - Joint Responsibility
The Federal Trade commission says: "If you're considering divorce or separation, pay special attention to the status of your credit accounts. If you maintain joint accounts during this time, it's important to make regular payments so your credit record won't suffer. As long as there's an outstanding balance on a joint account, you and your spouse are responsible for it."
If you divorce, you may want to close joint accounts or accounts in which your former spouse was an authorized user. Ask the creditor to convert these accounts to individual accounts.
By law, a creditor cannot close a joint account because of a change in marital status, but can do so at the request of either spouse. A creditor, however, does not have to change joint accounts. The creditor can require you to reapply for credit on an individual basis and then, based on your new application, extend or deny you credit. In the case of a mortgage or home equity loan, a lender is likely to require refinancing to remove a spouse from the obligation.
SPECIAL NOTE: any time you open an individual account, you may authorize another person to use it. A creditor who reports (good or bad) credit history to a credit bureau, will report it in the file of any person you have named as "authorized user" as well as your own file.
BEWARE - Defaulting on a Joint Account
Regardless of any court decision, if one joint account holder defaults on a loan, I guarantee the creditor will not care who the court ordered to pay it. The creditor will definitely come after the other joint account holder. Even if declaring bankruptcy, a creditor will make every effort to reclaim their lost revenue or property from the surviving spouse.
Therefore be fully aware that if a creditor does not agree to transfer joint accounts to an individual, then both of you are still responsible for full repayment to the creditor, regardless of how you've agreed to split the bills in the divorce settlement. If a spouse fails to make a payment, a creditor will come after the remaining joint holder, regardless of any divorce agreement. Additionally both joint holders will have negative comments on their credit file regardless of fault.
Experian Offers Tips
Experian says, "There are several ways you can prevent credit obligations from making divorce more difficult - and reestablish your own distinct credit lines after divorce occurs. You may wish to consider the following:
Communicate with your ex-spouse. Make as clean a financial cut as possible.
Communicate with your creditors. Decide which credit belongs to whom, then ask each company and bank that extended you credit to transfer the debt to the name of the person who will be responsible.
During divorce negotiations, keep your joint bills current, even if you ultimately will have no responsibility for the debt. If you don't, your creditors could become more reluctant to release one party from joint liability.
Ask the credit grantor to remove your spouse's name as an authorized user or close the joint account to additional charges.
If your spouse runs up large amounts of debt, you should cancel as many of the accounts as possible. Inform all creditors, in writing, that you are not responsible for these debts. This may not prevent them from trying to collect, but it does show that you attempted to act responsibly.
Upon your divorce settlement, you and your ex-spouse might consider obtaining individual consolidation loans to cover your share of the joint bills. Pay off the joint bills with your individual loans and close all joint accounts. This helps ensure you'll be responsible only for those bills you agreed to pay. It also will help you establish or reestablish credit in your own name. "
Other Points To Ponder
Though critically important for surviving this terrible time, emotions and so many other issues divert attention away from personal credit and its impact. Here then is a checklist and summary for a potential divorce in order to best protect your credit and rating.
1. Get a bank account in your name only.
2. Get at least one unsecured credit card in your name only. At a minimum get a secured credit card but in your name only. (This should occur whether divorcing or not.)
3. Ask to freeze any joint accounts with an outstanding asset or liability (bank, credit card, loans, etc.) so that both signatures are required before any transactions can be made.
4. Notify all creditors in writing (and call them) Document dates and who spoken to:
Have joint accounts closed if a zero balance or if possible have the account placed in the primary responsible party's name only;
Instruct all creditors that you want all authorized users removed except the primary holder;
Inform all creditors you are not responsible for charges from that point on if not in your name.
The primary party may have to re-qualify with the lender. This also means whoever will be responsible for a mortgage will probably have to refinance in order to remove the secondary party's responsibility.
5. Get copies of your 3 credit reports and inform all credit bureaus when the divorce is final. Make every effort to separate your credit file from that of your former spouse.
MyVesta and Divorce.net
MyVesta.org adds the following great suggestions
"Make sure your name is listed on your utility accounts, an item often overlooked by many. When you go to get credit, they often look to see if you have a phone number in your name. If you don't, even if you are listed in the phone book at that number, it can be problematic.
"Before signing the divorce papers, consider one addendum: change of name authorization. Crazy as it seems, many states require your ex-spouse's signature before issuing you a driver's license or other ID in a previous or maiden name. Men who added hyphens during marriage could encounter identity trouble, as well."
Divorce.net offers very fitting final thoughts.
"Your spouse may be in contempt of court for disobeying a court order that requires him [or her] to pay certain bills. However, if you are jointly liable to a creditor as in the case of a mortgage or co-signed credit applications, your spouse’s contempt of court is NO EXCUSE for your non-payment. It simply isn’t a legally sufficient defense to say, “It’s no longer my responsibility because the court ordered my spouse to pay.”
And from yours truly I add this. Until you are financially divorced with your own credit established, you remain tied to your former spouse. Divorce is not the tidy little package some people would like to think it is. It is not simply a matter of walking out one day. Over and above issues of child support and alimony, there are other financial ramifications beyond the emotional ones. The greater the communication at these times on both parts, the less of an impact there will be to both parties and the sooner the final separation will occur.
Communication is critical in a marriage. It is just as critical in a divorce.
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Divorce__Debt__Credit____Facts_you_need_to_know-42895.html
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Money Talk or “Debt Us Do Part”
Whether you are thinking of getting married, you are a newly wed, or you are a seasoned couple of marital bliss, you must have a joint talk about debt and credit. Debt communication is simply not an option. This debt and money talk article can open doors of communication and enhance the success of your marriage. In the case of pre marital situations, it may allow you to realize "problems" before they even start.
In David Olson’s 2003 National Survey of Marital Strengths we learn that the average adult spends 80% of waking hours earning, spending, or thinking about money. In a study of 21,501 couples Olson found that 66% indicated indebtedness was one of the top 5 major stumbling blocks to their marriage.
Conversely, he discovered "one of the unique strengths of the majority of happy couples was that they did not have major debt problems." Similarly the Administration office of the US Courts tell us there were 1,661,996 bankruptcies filed in Fiscal Year 2003 (up 7.4 percent from the 1,547,669 filings in Fiscal Year 2002). Bankruptcies have exceeded 1 million filings annually since the early 90's and show no signs of letting up.
All of the above strongly indicates one thing. Far more financial communication must occur in the relationship.
To overcome some of these staggering statistics, I firmly believe each couple has a superior chance of surviving separation and/or divorce because of financial stress, by simply opening the doors of financial communication. I strongly suggest 4 areas of communication for any couple regardless of how long they have been together. But the sooner in a couple's existence that communication occurs, the greater the opportunity of success for that couple and the less the stress level within their lives.
Here then are 4 suggested areas of financial communication:
1. Hidden Debt and Personalities - openly and without prejudice or pre-judgment
a. Share each other’s credit report and ask questions about past performances. For example: Why are there late pays? Why is there no credit history? Explain the bankruptcy. What is this judgment about?
b. Determine and discuss each person's ability to be a spender or a saver. Do you have a tendency to live paycheck to paycheck or do you have a consuming desire to put at least something away for a rainy day? Do you track every dime or is anything under $10 unimportant to track?
c. Discuss any debts not listed in the credit report.
d. Determine who has what credit lines and what is each person’s feelings on separate credit lines, joint lines, becoming an authorized user and/or co-signing any loans. Similarly discuss checking and savings accounts.
e. Discuss who has what assets and should they be kept separated or joined. (Should there be a pre-nuptial agreement?)
2. Goal Setting - where are you going and how will you know when you get there?
a. Set specific goals together for the next year, 5 years, and 20 years.
b. Read and discuss 5 Proven Steps To Budget Motivation (as well as other Budget Management articles under Article Index above.)
c. Commit a plan of action to paper stating how you will be accomplishing your goals.
d. List contingency plans when the inevitable “never expected emergency” pops up.
Budgeting and CEO - Who will carry the ball?
a. Who will have responsibility for paying the bills and balancing the checkbook?
b. How will you deal with existing bills? Especially for newlyweds? Will each continue to pay individually or will you join incomes to meet expenses?
c. Together plan out your budget
d. Frankly discuss “what if's”.
1. No one plans on bankruptcy but what if the bottom falls out? Will you both declare so the one spouse does not have to absorb the other's debt?
2. What if divorce does happen?
3. What if one spouse dies or becomes disabled?
“What if...” and fill in the rest.
4. Will one person be assigned to listen to the partner but ultimately make the final financial decision or will both have an equal voice?
Estate Planning
1. Discuss the existing life, health, and disability needs of each partner. Does it meet current and future needs?
2. Talk to a reputable health and disability representative and determine your needs.
3. Based upon your future goals, what investment strategies do you intend on initiating and when?
4. Who will do your taxes and do you need tax strategies to offset tax payment?
5. How will you develop an emergency savings and how much will it be?
6. Are there education needs expected?
Now for the ultimate marriage counseling tip. Reschedule this exact same discussion for next year and the year after and the year after that. Just call it your "Annual State of the Union Discussion".
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Money_Talk_or_%E2%80%9CDebt_Us_Do_Part%E2%80%9D-45797.html
In David Olson’s 2003 National Survey of Marital Strengths we learn that the average adult spends 80% of waking hours earning, spending, or thinking about money. In a study of 21,501 couples Olson found that 66% indicated indebtedness was one of the top 5 major stumbling blocks to their marriage.
Conversely, he discovered "one of the unique strengths of the majority of happy couples was that they did not have major debt problems." Similarly the Administration office of the US Courts tell us there were 1,661,996 bankruptcies filed in Fiscal Year 2003 (up 7.4 percent from the 1,547,669 filings in Fiscal Year 2002). Bankruptcies have exceeded 1 million filings annually since the early 90's and show no signs of letting up.
All of the above strongly indicates one thing. Far more financial communication must occur in the relationship.
To overcome some of these staggering statistics, I firmly believe each couple has a superior chance of surviving separation and/or divorce because of financial stress, by simply opening the doors of financial communication. I strongly suggest 4 areas of communication for any couple regardless of how long they have been together. But the sooner in a couple's existence that communication occurs, the greater the opportunity of success for that couple and the less the stress level within their lives.
Here then are 4 suggested areas of financial communication:
1. Hidden Debt and Personalities - openly and without prejudice or pre-judgment
a. Share each other’s credit report and ask questions about past performances. For example: Why are there late pays? Why is there no credit history? Explain the bankruptcy. What is this judgment about?
b. Determine and discuss each person's ability to be a spender or a saver. Do you have a tendency to live paycheck to paycheck or do you have a consuming desire to put at least something away for a rainy day? Do you track every dime or is anything under $10 unimportant to track?
c. Discuss any debts not listed in the credit report.
d. Determine who has what credit lines and what is each person’s feelings on separate credit lines, joint lines, becoming an authorized user and/or co-signing any loans. Similarly discuss checking and savings accounts.
e. Discuss who has what assets and should they be kept separated or joined. (Should there be a pre-nuptial agreement?)
2. Goal Setting - where are you going and how will you know when you get there?
a. Set specific goals together for the next year, 5 years, and 20 years.
b. Read and discuss 5 Proven Steps To Budget Motivation (as well as other Budget Management articles under Article Index above.)
c. Commit a plan of action to paper stating how you will be accomplishing your goals.
d. List contingency plans when the inevitable “never expected emergency” pops up.
Budgeting and CEO - Who will carry the ball?
a. Who will have responsibility for paying the bills and balancing the checkbook?
b. How will you deal with existing bills? Especially for newlyweds? Will each continue to pay individually or will you join incomes to meet expenses?
c. Together plan out your budget
d. Frankly discuss “what if's”.
1. No one plans on bankruptcy but what if the bottom falls out? Will you both declare so the one spouse does not have to absorb the other's debt?
2. What if divorce does happen?
3. What if one spouse dies or becomes disabled?
“What if...” and fill in the rest.
4. Will one person be assigned to listen to the partner but ultimately make the final financial decision or will both have an equal voice?
Estate Planning
1. Discuss the existing life, health, and disability needs of each partner. Does it meet current and future needs?
2. Talk to a reputable health and disability representative and determine your needs.
3. Based upon your future goals, what investment strategies do you intend on initiating and when?
4. Who will do your taxes and do you need tax strategies to offset tax payment?
5. How will you develop an emergency savings and how much will it be?
6. Are there education needs expected?
Now for the ultimate marriage counseling tip. Reschedule this exact same discussion for next year and the year after and the year after that. Just call it your "Annual State of the Union Discussion".
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Money_Talk_or_%E2%80%9CDebt_Us_Do_Part%E2%80%9D-45797.html
bankruptcy facts
Knowing that you need to better understand this topic I recommend that you take Five minutes to read what we have to say. Since bankruptcy is a place that seems to be hit more people it is best to know some bankruptcy facts. These facts can help you to understand what happens when you claim to be bankrupt. The first fact that you will need to interpret is that filing for bankruptcy is not the end of the world. Bankruptcy is a way for you to suspend the dissimilar debt collections that are being carried out in your life during the time that you have in some way managed to roll up lots of debts. Once you have filed for bankruptcy the tribunal will allow an automatic stay order. This stay order will keep the dissimilar debt collection agencies from trying to collect their debts while the tribunal is looking into your tangled up finances. According to the known bankruptcy facts, during the time of your failure money cannot be collected from you by your creditors. These individuals will need to talk to your attorney to find data about the debt payment. These creditors can sooner or later petition the court for alleviation from the stay order. This alleviation order will provide them with the ability to collect any secured debts that you have written over to them. This is the only way that these creditors can collect money, property and assets from you. By knowing about bankruptcy facts like this you can make sure that you are careful about assignment your property as security measures to credit companies. There is another failure fact that you should know about. In this fact once your failure payments have been fully paid off you will be released from further debt payments. At this point former creditors will no longer have any claim on you and they can not force you to pay any more of the former debts. Even so if you do happen to get into credit difficulties with these same creditors once more they will have the right to search compensation for these new debts that you have incurred. As you look through the various bankruptcy facts and advice, you will see that in most cases your assets that can be turned into immediate payment must be turned over to a bankruptcy trustee. This judicature decreed person will make sure that you are paying off your debt in a sensible manner. You disposable assets once they have been liquidated will be distributed amongst your creditors. This is also another way for you to drop your bankruptcy charges. There are many other bankruptcy facts that can help you to keep off being in trouble with the various people to whom you owe money. You just need to talk with your attorney for help. Thank you for Taking the time to read my article it is greatly appreciated. Try searching through my other articles.
http://www.articlebin.com/view-bankruptcy_facts-47898.html
http://www.articlebin.com/view-bankruptcy_facts-47898.html
Direct Mail Marketing – Can it Really Pay Off? Step 1: Researching Your Target Market
Maybe you have thought about direct mail. Maybe you have wondered whether it could work for you. Maybe you have done it, but it never really paid off. Possibly you thought there was so much to learn that you didn’t know where to start. Whatever your particular ‘story’ is you are reading this. And yes, there are a million and one ways to do something wrong – but there are only a handful of ways to get it right. In this article, I will show you what has brought success to hundreds of mortgage brokers and how direct mail marketing can work for you.
My goal in this article is to help you get started by helping you figure out WHO you should be mailing to and WHAT product to promote to them. In fact – I will be writing a series of articles taking you all the way from the research to the tracking of the results and your return on investment. There will be practical exercises for you to do in between the next issues, so roll up your sleeves and get ready to start cooking – or start rolling in the dough.
I’ve literally dealt with the marketing of thousands of mortgage brokers and one thing is certain… Once you guys start doing really well financially you want to branch out on your own and start your own company. However, most brokers haven’t taken Marketing 101, so they tend to fail. Not because they aren’t good brokers, but because they aren’t good marketers. In fact, it is not only a trend I see in the Mortgage Industry, but many other industries as well. To tell you the truth, with all that I know about marketing I’m confident that I could make ANY business successful. Sounds pretty cocky but hands down, I could do it. Because I know marketing.
Why do I know that I could make it successful? Because I learned something vitally important: outbound communication is key. It is more important then what you receive. You will generate interest and credibility the more you communicate and the more you communicate repeatedly.
But not just to anybody. Why would you communicate to folks that have no reason to buy a home or refinance their home if you were a mortgage broker? How will you go about defining your target market? What is the scientific approach to choosing your mailing list?
On the outset, that may seem easy. Just advertise your subprime product to a subprime list. Or maybe not. But you do not want to guess on this. You need solid evidence. The best way to get that evidence is via your own records – your past closes and what it was you sold and to whom. What you are looking for is twofold:
1) Your easiest-to-close customers and
2) Customers that financed with your highest income-generating products.
To recap in mid-stream let me give you four key data to latch onto:
1) Outbound communication is key.
2) Repeated communication is vital.
3) Your easiest-to-close customers should be promoted to first.
4) Your highest income-generating products should be next in line to promote.
Now let’s get started. Research which product you need to market.
When you start researching, you really shouldn’t go off of assumptions. Ideally you’ll go through your client list and tabulate which product you sold the most of. Was it prime? Subprime? Re-fi? Jumbo? Most of the time, you really have to do a sincere survey. You are looking to market the product that makes you the most income the quickest FIRST.
Exactly how should you do the research?
Create a spreadsheet and go through all of your past closes over the last year. List them out: Product X, Product Y, Product Z and so on – find every close you made over the few year and mark down which product it was and what you earned off of it. Also note down HOW MANY of that product you sold.
Example Tabulation:
Product X: Earned 1% Sold 8
Product Y: Earned $900 Sold 20
Product Z: Earned ½% Sold 12
Using the above example it is easy to see that Product ‘Y’ is what you should be marketing in your direct mail campaign. We’ll consider product ‘Y’ your bread and butter. Obviously these are the easiest to close so let’s create as many leads as we can and assume you’ll close them up.
Once you’re grooving right along with that product (and we’ll get to the target market in a few paragraphs) use the same spreadsheet to determine which product yielded the highest commissions. Maybe product ‘X’ averaged around $2000 per close but with only five sold you’re still doing better with ‘Y’, economically speaking. BUT if you just increase the number of leads that would need or desire product ‘X’ you could really start raking it in, right?
Do you see where I’m going with this? Haphazardly, with little or no direct mail – perhaps with referrals only – you’re managing to sell certain products to certain demographics. Of course, in reality, it will be many more than three different products which is why you need to go about this systematically.
However, once you start promoting product ‘Y’ and you start receiving an abundance of leads, DO NOT stop promoting that product just because you now have some more business. Keep on putting out that communication repeatedly and additionally market to the next product to the target market. We’re going for abundance here. When you’ve got an abundance of business, it is much easier to solve whatever problems arise with that than the type of problems that come from having a scarcity of business.
Learning a subject is all about wrapping your wits around the key principles involved and building upon those. Wrap your wits around this and you will be on your way to becoming a marketing expert.
Now that you know which product to start with, you have to know who is going to buy it, which comes to our next step.
Research to find who the audience is that you are going to sell to.
Not all audiences are the same. Take for example the TV show, Showtime at the Apollo. Not everyone would want to watch that. Just like there is a totally different target audience for American Idol. (If you never heard of these, then more than likely you aren’t their audience.) Case in point: you have to determine who your audience is, which is called a “market”. A “market” is a type of audience, a type of user. Figure out everything you can about that particular market that buys your main (what you sell the most of) product. The good thing is that you already have access to all their data – age ranges, credit scores, income, etc. It is time to add this data to your spread sheet.
Product X: Earned 1% Sold 8
Product Y: Earned $900 Sold 20
Product Z: Earned ½% Sold 12
Credit ranges
Age ranges
Income level
Once you have the demographics of the people that buy your “easiest-to-sell” product, you can then buy a list of that particular type of audience. You can go to a list company that you feel good about or have gotten recommendations for, and buy a list of people within those specific criteria. Get a list in a certain zip code or a certain mile radius around your office. (I have found that in more rural areas you will have to do a larger mileage radius than you would have to in a more urban area – it depends on the population.)
The reason you want to do such a thorough job of finding out who you are selling to is that 40% of your marketing campaign’s success (success meaning whether or not you get a good response) is dependent on your list. 40%! That is a big percentage to mess up on at the get-go. Besides, it is your list and the postage that are going to be the most expensive parts of your direct mail campaign. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good list – it makes all the difference in the world.
Here is an excellent case study of a company of mortgage professionals called Priority Financial Services that did exactly what I have been writing about here. They did an exhaustive research of what type of product they should focus on offering and what type of consumer would reach for their services.
Ervin Kowitz and Brian Kowitz are the owners of PFS. Their specialties include "no income qualifier" loans and loans for those without an income. They have a great deal of experience and expertise for those borrowers with credit problems including bankruptcy and foreclosure. With over 12,000 loans closed since 1994, they had quite a history that helped them determine the type of customer that they decided to focus on. Coupling their own internal study with market research and data retrieval from a source of strategic partners, Ervin and Brian were able to focus on a sector of the market whose need was the biggest segment of the growing market and truly specialize in it. This will vary for your particular business or area, but you can ascertain your niche in the same or similar way that they did.
The question they asked themselves was, ‘what was the most valuable asset that their business had’. Contrary to the usual answers of inventory, lease or even employees – even though employees are very high on the list, Ervin and Brian determined that their actual client base was their most valuable asset with their employees running a close 2nd. Once they determined this, they were on the right track to determining their niche.
PFS determined via their client base where their best clients were coming from and also analyzed where they were getting their best return. They saw a tremendous need in their customer base for financing for credit challenged individuals. Being primarily in the sub-prime market, Ervin and Brian further targeted a highly unique sector of the mortgage business – bankruptcies. They had spent 11 years dealing with the ‘ins and outs’ of bankruptcies, so much that 41% of their business was that specialized market. When this was unearthed, they had found their niche.
Niches can be very selective and they can be very broad as Ervin and Brian discovered. Even though they researched and found their niche, every issue they are presented with is unique. Though they offer many different products for their specialized market, they have been able to create a “service” niche. Through their creativity and understanding of the needs of their credit-challenged clients, they have been able to create literally a road map for each individual customer that is specific to them and in their best interest.
Priority Financial Service’s research may be very different than the research you need to do. The important thing is to comb through your files and take a look for the biggest commonalities and find out all you can about that product, market or trend you discover. You will have your own realization and you’ll be able to better define your target market and what particular products you need to concentrate your efforts on. Being everything to all people doesn’t necessarily communicate in marketing. People want to know what you can do for them specifically and when you are able to communicate that to a specific group – bingo! You just hit the jack pot.
In my next article,“Direct Mail Marketing-Can It Really Pay Off -Part Two”, I will teach you how to create copy (text, verbiage) in your promotional material to really get your message across to your target market in order to get a response. In the meantime, you have some homework to do. Happy Hunting!
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Direct_Mail_Marketing_%E2%80%93_Can_it_Really_Pay_Off__Step_1__Researching_Your_Target_Market-59736.html
My goal in this article is to help you get started by helping you figure out WHO you should be mailing to and WHAT product to promote to them. In fact – I will be writing a series of articles taking you all the way from the research to the tracking of the results and your return on investment. There will be practical exercises for you to do in between the next issues, so roll up your sleeves and get ready to start cooking – or start rolling in the dough.
I’ve literally dealt with the marketing of thousands of mortgage brokers and one thing is certain… Once you guys start doing really well financially you want to branch out on your own and start your own company. However, most brokers haven’t taken Marketing 101, so they tend to fail. Not because they aren’t good brokers, but because they aren’t good marketers. In fact, it is not only a trend I see in the Mortgage Industry, but many other industries as well. To tell you the truth, with all that I know about marketing I’m confident that I could make ANY business successful. Sounds pretty cocky but hands down, I could do it. Because I know marketing.
Why do I know that I could make it successful? Because I learned something vitally important: outbound communication is key. It is more important then what you receive. You will generate interest and credibility the more you communicate and the more you communicate repeatedly.
But not just to anybody. Why would you communicate to folks that have no reason to buy a home or refinance their home if you were a mortgage broker? How will you go about defining your target market? What is the scientific approach to choosing your mailing list?
On the outset, that may seem easy. Just advertise your subprime product to a subprime list. Or maybe not. But you do not want to guess on this. You need solid evidence. The best way to get that evidence is via your own records – your past closes and what it was you sold and to whom. What you are looking for is twofold:
1) Your easiest-to-close customers and
2) Customers that financed with your highest income-generating products.
To recap in mid-stream let me give you four key data to latch onto:
1) Outbound communication is key.
2) Repeated communication is vital.
3) Your easiest-to-close customers should be promoted to first.
4) Your highest income-generating products should be next in line to promote.
Now let’s get started. Research which product you need to market.
When you start researching, you really shouldn’t go off of assumptions. Ideally you’ll go through your client list and tabulate which product you sold the most of. Was it prime? Subprime? Re-fi? Jumbo? Most of the time, you really have to do a sincere survey. You are looking to market the product that makes you the most income the quickest FIRST.
Exactly how should you do the research?
Create a spreadsheet and go through all of your past closes over the last year. List them out: Product X, Product Y, Product Z and so on – find every close you made over the few year and mark down which product it was and what you earned off of it. Also note down HOW MANY of that product you sold.
Example Tabulation:
Product X: Earned 1% Sold 8
Product Y: Earned $900 Sold 20
Product Z: Earned ½% Sold 12
Using the above example it is easy to see that Product ‘Y’ is what you should be marketing in your direct mail campaign. We’ll consider product ‘Y’ your bread and butter. Obviously these are the easiest to close so let’s create as many leads as we can and assume you’ll close them up.
Once you’re grooving right along with that product (and we’ll get to the target market in a few paragraphs) use the same spreadsheet to determine which product yielded the highest commissions. Maybe product ‘X’ averaged around $2000 per close but with only five sold you’re still doing better with ‘Y’, economically speaking. BUT if you just increase the number of leads that would need or desire product ‘X’ you could really start raking it in, right?
Do you see where I’m going with this? Haphazardly, with little or no direct mail – perhaps with referrals only – you’re managing to sell certain products to certain demographics. Of course, in reality, it will be many more than three different products which is why you need to go about this systematically.
However, once you start promoting product ‘Y’ and you start receiving an abundance of leads, DO NOT stop promoting that product just because you now have some more business. Keep on putting out that communication repeatedly and additionally market to the next product to the target market. We’re going for abundance here. When you’ve got an abundance of business, it is much easier to solve whatever problems arise with that than the type of problems that come from having a scarcity of business.
Learning a subject is all about wrapping your wits around the key principles involved and building upon those. Wrap your wits around this and you will be on your way to becoming a marketing expert.
Now that you know which product to start with, you have to know who is going to buy it, which comes to our next step.
Research to find who the audience is that you are going to sell to.
Not all audiences are the same. Take for example the TV show, Showtime at the Apollo. Not everyone would want to watch that. Just like there is a totally different target audience for American Idol. (If you never heard of these, then more than likely you aren’t their audience.) Case in point: you have to determine who your audience is, which is called a “market”. A “market” is a type of audience, a type of user. Figure out everything you can about that particular market that buys your main (what you sell the most of) product. The good thing is that you already have access to all their data – age ranges, credit scores, income, etc. It is time to add this data to your spread sheet.
Product X: Earned 1% Sold 8
Product Y: Earned $900 Sold 20
Product Z: Earned ½% Sold 12
Credit ranges
Age ranges
Income level
Once you have the demographics of the people that buy your “easiest-to-sell” product, you can then buy a list of that particular type of audience. You can go to a list company that you feel good about or have gotten recommendations for, and buy a list of people within those specific criteria. Get a list in a certain zip code or a certain mile radius around your office. (I have found that in more rural areas you will have to do a larger mileage radius than you would have to in a more urban area – it depends on the population.)
The reason you want to do such a thorough job of finding out who you are selling to is that 40% of your marketing campaign’s success (success meaning whether or not you get a good response) is dependent on your list. 40%! That is a big percentage to mess up on at the get-go. Besides, it is your list and the postage that are going to be the most expensive parts of your direct mail campaign. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good list – it makes all the difference in the world.
Here is an excellent case study of a company of mortgage professionals called Priority Financial Services that did exactly what I have been writing about here. They did an exhaustive research of what type of product they should focus on offering and what type of consumer would reach for their services.
Ervin Kowitz and Brian Kowitz are the owners of PFS. Their specialties include "no income qualifier" loans and loans for those without an income. They have a great deal of experience and expertise for those borrowers with credit problems including bankruptcy and foreclosure. With over 12,000 loans closed since 1994, they had quite a history that helped them determine the type of customer that they decided to focus on. Coupling their own internal study with market research and data retrieval from a source of strategic partners, Ervin and Brian were able to focus on a sector of the market whose need was the biggest segment of the growing market and truly specialize in it. This will vary for your particular business or area, but you can ascertain your niche in the same or similar way that they did.
The question they asked themselves was, ‘what was the most valuable asset that their business had’. Contrary to the usual answers of inventory, lease or even employees – even though employees are very high on the list, Ervin and Brian determined that their actual client base was their most valuable asset with their employees running a close 2nd. Once they determined this, they were on the right track to determining their niche.
PFS determined via their client base where their best clients were coming from and also analyzed where they were getting their best return. They saw a tremendous need in their customer base for financing for credit challenged individuals. Being primarily in the sub-prime market, Ervin and Brian further targeted a highly unique sector of the mortgage business – bankruptcies. They had spent 11 years dealing with the ‘ins and outs’ of bankruptcies, so much that 41% of their business was that specialized market. When this was unearthed, they had found their niche.
Niches can be very selective and they can be very broad as Ervin and Brian discovered. Even though they researched and found their niche, every issue they are presented with is unique. Though they offer many different products for their specialized market, they have been able to create a “service” niche. Through their creativity and understanding of the needs of their credit-challenged clients, they have been able to create literally a road map for each individual customer that is specific to them and in their best interest.
Priority Financial Service’s research may be very different than the research you need to do. The important thing is to comb through your files and take a look for the biggest commonalities and find out all you can about that product, market or trend you discover. You will have your own realization and you’ll be able to better define your target market and what particular products you need to concentrate your efforts on. Being everything to all people doesn’t necessarily communicate in marketing. People want to know what you can do for them specifically and when you are able to communicate that to a specific group – bingo! You just hit the jack pot.
In my next article,“Direct Mail Marketing-Can It Really Pay Off -Part Two”, I will teach you how to create copy (text, verbiage) in your promotional material to really get your message across to your target market in order to get a response. In the meantime, you have some homework to do. Happy Hunting!
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Direct_Mail_Marketing_%E2%80%93_Can_it_Really_Pay_Off__Step_1__Researching_Your_Target_Market-59736.html
Debt Consolidation Advice
Debt consolidation can be your ring-buoy in case you are in debt and cannot manage all your loans anymore. Such alternative as a debt consolidation loan is designed in order not only to help individuals unite all their loans in one manageable loan but also gain much lower interest rates, APR (annual percentage rate) and even loan terms. No matter in which stage you decide to benefit from a debt consolidation loan, you should know that sound knowledge of the subject matter is a key to your success, so never grudge your time on reading informative articles and helpful recommendations because they will undoubtedly prove useful to you.
There are several ways of consolidating debts and many reasons for doing this. Reasons can vary depending on situation but consolidation options are the same for everyone. Borrowing money against you home's equity is the first option available for those who aim at debt consolidation. This can be a perfect choice, if the real value of your home and all valuable assets you have in it are stable, so that lenders could be sure that you are not a risky but a paying client. The second option is zero-interest credit cards and bank loans. Credit union loans can also be beneficial if you need to borrow money in order to consolidate your current debts.
Debt consolidation is undoubtedly the best alternative to bankruptcy you can ever find. In case you decided to borrow money and consolidate your debts, you should remember that here is no place for rash decisions, everything should be properly considered. Debt consolidation loans are highly demanded nowadays and there are a lot of available offers in the market, and this is exactly why it is more than simply sensible to shop around for best loan at best price. Before you start analyzing the market and comparing different offers and rates, you should manage you budget and decide upon the amount of interest rates and APRs which you can afford as well as terms which can be beneficial to you. You should calculate everything carefully and make sure that debt consolidation is the best choice for you.
We suggest that you browse the Internet for the best debt consolidation offers and save both your time and your money. Search for trustworthy and reputable lenders, compare interest rates, terms and additional fees charged and choose offers which fit your needs and your budget best. After this you should request quotes from different lenders, fill them out and compare them carefully when you receive them back. It's also advised to use free online calculators which are designed in order to help you calculate estimated interest rates you can have depending, for example on your home's equity, credit history and your income. Right after you choose an appropriate loan which will help you consolidate your debts, you have to make sure that you can trust the company or the lender you plan to deal with.
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Debt_Consolidation_Advice-68991.html
There are several ways of consolidating debts and many reasons for doing this. Reasons can vary depending on situation but consolidation options are the same for everyone. Borrowing money against you home's equity is the first option available for those who aim at debt consolidation. This can be a perfect choice, if the real value of your home and all valuable assets you have in it are stable, so that lenders could be sure that you are not a risky but a paying client. The second option is zero-interest credit cards and bank loans. Credit union loans can also be beneficial if you need to borrow money in order to consolidate your current debts.
Debt consolidation is undoubtedly the best alternative to bankruptcy you can ever find. In case you decided to borrow money and consolidate your debts, you should remember that here is no place for rash decisions, everything should be properly considered. Debt consolidation loans are highly demanded nowadays and there are a lot of available offers in the market, and this is exactly why it is more than simply sensible to shop around for best loan at best price. Before you start analyzing the market and comparing different offers and rates, you should manage you budget and decide upon the amount of interest rates and APRs which you can afford as well as terms which can be beneficial to you. You should calculate everything carefully and make sure that debt consolidation is the best choice for you.
We suggest that you browse the Internet for the best debt consolidation offers and save both your time and your money. Search for trustworthy and reputable lenders, compare interest rates, terms and additional fees charged and choose offers which fit your needs and your budget best. After this you should request quotes from different lenders, fill them out and compare them carefully when you receive them back. It's also advised to use free online calculators which are designed in order to help you calculate estimated interest rates you can have depending, for example on your home's equity, credit history and your income. Right after you choose an appropriate loan which will help you consolidate your debts, you have to make sure that you can trust the company or the lender you plan to deal with.
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Debt_Consolidation_Advice-68991.html
Facts for People with Bad Credit Score
Bad credit is a poor credit rating. People with a bad credit rating have a history of late payments, skipping payments, over borrowing on credit cards or declaring bankruptcy. Poor financial management leads to bad credit. Spending habits, forgetfulness and lack of organization result in a bad credit rating. Then credit reference agencies give you a negative rating whenever you apply for a home loan or a mortgage. Not to worry as you can still get bad credit loans.
What is credit scoring?
This is a statistical method to analyze the applicant’s characteristics. With the help of credit scoring the lender decides on the applicators qualification for credit. Credit rating or credit scores are provided to lenders by credit bureaus. The Federal Trade Commission site on consumer issues gives details of credit scoring. Applicant’s bill-paying history, the number of accounts, types of accounts, age of accounts and amount of outstanding debt determine the scoring. Points are awarded for each factor
• Whether you are likely to repay the debt
• Whether you are likely to make payments on time (payment of credit card bills, utility bills, student loans etc. are checked.)
• Ration of the income to debt is another important factor. In worst cases it is 60:40.
• The length of time one has had credit is also important as it shows how the applicant has handled credit over a longer period of time.
Make sure your report is accurate. Fix Bad Credit Report if it is inaccurate. You could go online to find the various credit reporting agencies that could provide you, your credit report for free.
Bad credit is a poor credit rating. People with a bad credit rating have a history of late payments, skipping payments, over borrowing on credit cards or declaring bankruptcy. Poor financial management leads to bad credit. Spending habits, forgetfulness and lack of organization result in a bad credit rating. Then credit reference agencies give you a negative rating whenever you apply for a home loan or a mortgage. Not to worry as you can still get bad credit loans.
What is credit scoring?
This is a statistical method to analyze the applicant’s characteristics. With the help of credit scoring the lender decides on the applicators qualification for credit. Credit rating or credit scores are provided to lenders by credit bureaus. The Federal Trade Commission site on consumer issues gives details of credit scoring. Applicant’s bill-paying history, the number of accounts, types of accounts, age of accounts and amount of outstanding debt determine the scoring. Points are awarded for each factor
• Whether you are likely to repay the debt
• Whether you are likely to make payments on time (payment of credit card bills, utility bills, student loans etc. are checked.)
• Ration of the income to debt is another important factor. In worst cases it is 60:40.
• The length of time one has had credit is also important as it shows how the applicant has handled credit over a longer period of time.
Make sure your report is accurate. Fix Bad Credit Report if it is inaccurate. You could go online to find the various credit reporting agencies that could provide you, your credit report for free.
Obtaining Credit
A check on the credit of the loan applicant is done by potential lenders before granting mortgages, personal loans, refinancing or other loans. The three agencies that are primarily used are Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. The lender does not rely only on credit scores to give you the loan but checks three factors Capacity, capital and Character.
Capacity indicates your ability to make payments on time. A steady job, your salary and other payment determine this ability. If you do not have a steady job and a good salary you cannot pay back easily. Also if you are making payments for other loans you may not be able to attain another if you do not have the capacity to pay back.
Capital is the total assets you have in stocks, banks and immovable property. A sale of any of these assets could help you repay the loan in case you are unable to work or your savings dwindles. Applicants with more capital get bigger amounts in loans or mortgages.
Character is determined by the promises you have kept. This is an important factor as all lenders look to receiving their payments at the right time.
An important consideration is the applicants
• Income to debt ratio also determines whether you get the loan. The worst case this can be is 60:40.
• Credit history of bill-payments
• Has the applicant filed for personal bankruptcy at any point of time?
• Credit rating score should be in the mean values, neither too high nor too low.
• Incase of earlier debt they type of debt you have is considered (installment or revolving debt).Revolving debt is applicable by credit card companies.
Many people like to erase bad credit; you could go to credit repair services that are non-profit. Get their help to organize your payments and finance. You could avail a debt consolidation loan and get even on bad credit scores.
A check on the credit of the loan applicant is done by potential lenders before granting mortgages, personal loans, refinancing or other loans. The three agencies that are primarily used are Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. The lender does not rely only on credit scores to give you the loan but checks three factors Capacity, capital and Character.
Capacity indicates your ability to make payments on time. A steady job, your salary and other payment determine this ability. If you do not have a steady job and a good salary you cannot pay back easily. Also if you are making payments for other loans you may not be able to attain another if you do not have the capacity to pay back.
Capital is the total assets you have in stocks, banks and immovable property. A sale of any of these assets could help you repay the loan in case you are unable to work or your savings dwindles. Applicants with more capital get bigger amounts in loans or mortgages.
Character is determined by the promises you have kept. This is an important factor as all lenders look to receiving their payments at the right time.
An important consideration is the applicants
• Income to debt ratio also determines whether you get the loan. The worst case this can be is 60:40.
• Credit history of bill-payments
• Has the applicant filed for personal bankruptcy at any point of time?
• Credit rating score should be in the mean values, neither too high nor too low.
• Incase of earlier debt they type of debt you have is considered (installment or revolving debt).Revolving debt is applicable by credit card companies.
Many people like to erase bad credit; you could go to credit repair services that are non-profit. Get their help to organize your payments and finance. You could avail a debt consolidation loan and get even on bad credit scores.
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Facts_for_People_with_Bad_Credit_Score-69276.html
What is credit scoring?
This is a statistical method to analyze the applicant’s characteristics. With the help of credit scoring the lender decides on the applicators qualification for credit. Credit rating or credit scores are provided to lenders by credit bureaus. The Federal Trade Commission site on consumer issues gives details of credit scoring. Applicant’s bill-paying history, the number of accounts, types of accounts, age of accounts and amount of outstanding debt determine the scoring. Points are awarded for each factor
• Whether you are likely to repay the debt
• Whether you are likely to make payments on time (payment of credit card bills, utility bills, student loans etc. are checked.)
• Ration of the income to debt is another important factor. In worst cases it is 60:40.
• The length of time one has had credit is also important as it shows how the applicant has handled credit over a longer period of time.
Make sure your report is accurate. Fix Bad Credit Report if it is inaccurate. You could go online to find the various credit reporting agencies that could provide you, your credit report for free.
Bad credit is a poor credit rating. People with a bad credit rating have a history of late payments, skipping payments, over borrowing on credit cards or declaring bankruptcy. Poor financial management leads to bad credit. Spending habits, forgetfulness and lack of organization result in a bad credit rating. Then credit reference agencies give you a negative rating whenever you apply for a home loan or a mortgage. Not to worry as you can still get bad credit loans.
What is credit scoring?
This is a statistical method to analyze the applicant’s characteristics. With the help of credit scoring the lender decides on the applicators qualification for credit. Credit rating or credit scores are provided to lenders by credit bureaus. The Federal Trade Commission site on consumer issues gives details of credit scoring. Applicant’s bill-paying history, the number of accounts, types of accounts, age of accounts and amount of outstanding debt determine the scoring. Points are awarded for each factor
• Whether you are likely to repay the debt
• Whether you are likely to make payments on time (payment of credit card bills, utility bills, student loans etc. are checked.)
• Ration of the income to debt is another important factor. In worst cases it is 60:40.
• The length of time one has had credit is also important as it shows how the applicant has handled credit over a longer period of time.
Make sure your report is accurate. Fix Bad Credit Report if it is inaccurate. You could go online to find the various credit reporting agencies that could provide you, your credit report for free.
Obtaining Credit
A check on the credit of the loan applicant is done by potential lenders before granting mortgages, personal loans, refinancing or other loans. The three agencies that are primarily used are Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. The lender does not rely only on credit scores to give you the loan but checks three factors Capacity, capital and Character.
Capacity indicates your ability to make payments on time. A steady job, your salary and other payment determine this ability. If you do not have a steady job and a good salary you cannot pay back easily. Also if you are making payments for other loans you may not be able to attain another if you do not have the capacity to pay back.
Capital is the total assets you have in stocks, banks and immovable property. A sale of any of these assets could help you repay the loan in case you are unable to work or your savings dwindles. Applicants with more capital get bigger amounts in loans or mortgages.
Character is determined by the promises you have kept. This is an important factor as all lenders look to receiving their payments at the right time.
An important consideration is the applicants
• Income to debt ratio also determines whether you get the loan. The worst case this can be is 60:40.
• Credit history of bill-payments
• Has the applicant filed for personal bankruptcy at any point of time?
• Credit rating score should be in the mean values, neither too high nor too low.
• Incase of earlier debt they type of debt you have is considered (installment or revolving debt).Revolving debt is applicable by credit card companies.
Many people like to erase bad credit; you could go to credit repair services that are non-profit. Get their help to organize your payments and finance. You could avail a debt consolidation loan and get even on bad credit scores.
A check on the credit of the loan applicant is done by potential lenders before granting mortgages, personal loans, refinancing or other loans. The three agencies that are primarily used are Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. The lender does not rely only on credit scores to give you the loan but checks three factors Capacity, capital and Character.
Capacity indicates your ability to make payments on time. A steady job, your salary and other payment determine this ability. If you do not have a steady job and a good salary you cannot pay back easily. Also if you are making payments for other loans you may not be able to attain another if you do not have the capacity to pay back.
Capital is the total assets you have in stocks, banks and immovable property. A sale of any of these assets could help you repay the loan in case you are unable to work or your savings dwindles. Applicants with more capital get bigger amounts in loans or mortgages.
Character is determined by the promises you have kept. This is an important factor as all lenders look to receiving their payments at the right time.
An important consideration is the applicants
• Income to debt ratio also determines whether you get the loan. The worst case this can be is 60:40.
• Credit history of bill-payments
• Has the applicant filed for personal bankruptcy at any point of time?
• Credit rating score should be in the mean values, neither too high nor too low.
• Incase of earlier debt they type of debt you have is considered (installment or revolving debt).Revolving debt is applicable by credit card companies.
Many people like to erase bad credit; you could go to credit repair services that are non-profit. Get their help to organize your payments and finance. You could avail a debt consolidation loan and get even on bad credit scores.
http://www.articlebin.com/view-Facts_for_People_with_Bad_Credit_Score-69276.html
Keeping Your Business Out Of Bankruptcy
Business debt is the easiest debt to get into and the most difficult to get out of. Debt consolidation is an easy, effective way of making sure that a business has its cash flow available at a time when it needs it. There are many struggling businesses today that have borrowed large sums of money from lending institutions but have no way to pay them back. This happens either because of unprofitable operations, or because the company has grown more quickly than its operating capital.
Business debt consolidation from debt management firms helps companies in need manage their financial resources better and they are cheaper than CPA's. Debt consolidation seeks to reorganize that debt in a more efficient method that will provide better cash flow for a company.
Consolidation allows the debts of a company to be combined into one sum rather than 20 payments. Using this large sum, debt management firms will act as managers of a client's debt and try to make it easier to pay off that debt.
Debt management firms can be more attractive than the traditional route of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the government. Filing for Chapter 11 causes an extreme amount of delays as well as costly expenditures. Before the Trustee will help a company with a debt reorganization plan, the company will have to hire professionals for debt consultation first. Time can also go to waste when a company is waiting for the Trustee to approve the plan which can take months to even years for approval. Some companies cannot afford to wait that long.
Business debt consolidation is a whole lot like college loan consolidations are. With college loans, the graduate can hire a professional organization to help him or her to combine his or her loans into a single sum, discovers a low, fixed interest rate, and pay off the debt in consistent amounts month by month, over a long time period. In the long run this helps the student save a great deal of money. The same is true for businesses and debt consolidation.
You can always get more business loans and credit cards but that will have the potential to put you even deeper in debt. It just makes sense that you would not want to make matters worse. Borrowing money can be helpful if you know that your profits will rise indefinitely, however since most business owners really don't know, it is best that you seek to get some help from a credit union instead. It is just good sense. They work with you and not against you the way that a loan can at times.
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/keeping-your-business-out-of-bankruptcy-18548.html
Business debt consolidation from debt management firms helps companies in need manage their financial resources better and they are cheaper than CPA's. Debt consolidation seeks to reorganize that debt in a more efficient method that will provide better cash flow for a company.
Consolidation allows the debts of a company to be combined into one sum rather than 20 payments. Using this large sum, debt management firms will act as managers of a client's debt and try to make it easier to pay off that debt.
Debt management firms can be more attractive than the traditional route of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the government. Filing for Chapter 11 causes an extreme amount of delays as well as costly expenditures. Before the Trustee will help a company with a debt reorganization plan, the company will have to hire professionals for debt consultation first. Time can also go to waste when a company is waiting for the Trustee to approve the plan which can take months to even years for approval. Some companies cannot afford to wait that long.
Business debt consolidation is a whole lot like college loan consolidations are. With college loans, the graduate can hire a professional organization to help him or her to combine his or her loans into a single sum, discovers a low, fixed interest rate, and pay off the debt in consistent amounts month by month, over a long time period. In the long run this helps the student save a great deal of money. The same is true for businesses and debt consolidation.
You can always get more business loans and credit cards but that will have the potential to put you even deeper in debt. It just makes sense that you would not want to make matters worse. Borrowing money can be helpful if you know that your profits will rise indefinitely, however since most business owners really don't know, it is best that you seek to get some help from a credit union instead. It is just good sense. They work with you and not against you the way that a loan can at times.
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/keeping-your-business-out-of-bankruptcy-18548.html
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