prudential artisan market

Archive for April, 2009

Learn great money saving tips with online shopping as they could really give you huge savings if you practice them well. Internet online shopping has been gathering popularity as you can easily sift through many online stores in the shortest time frame to get the best deal, at the click of a mouse button. With discount vouchers, discount codes or promotional codes, you can save even more when shopping online.

5 Essential Money Saving Tips With Internet Online Shopping

1. Always aim for the best deal and save more for the item(s) you desire. Do not immediately settle down with your purchase on the first online store that you come across. Scout through a few of them and make your price comparison to get the best deal. Lookout for sale items especially. Sale prices can be dramatically lower than the standard prices and help you to save big.

2. Always use coupons or discount voucher codes if you know where to check online. There are many websites out there that offer thousands of coupons to almost every online store.

Typically you pay 20% more for an item for shipping fee, and if you are able to save that much with discount vouchers, you are essentially getting free shipping for your items. Every time you get to the last checkout page, just key in the promotional code into the little box will do.

3. Always keep an eye for online rebates given by retailers that can help to save a huge percentage on the selling price. Simple fill out a little form and cut out the UPC code. Use these rebates and save big.

4. Always look out for sites or items that come with free shipping. As mentioned above, shipping fee is normally 20% more than the item price itself. Saving on your shipping can be tremendous if your item costs a lot.

5. Do not miss out those state retailers that do not charge sales tax for your items for your state. The money saving here could be significant too.

With money saving tips above and if you have practiced them well, you can add up and see how much you have easily saved for yourself. The best part is, you don’t even have to walk into a store to save a bundle. Spend some time to search online and I am sure you can find more money saving offers and tips out there. Start saving and enjoy living debt free today!

When it comes to business development, picking the low hanging fruit is easy, uncomplicated, and a fast way to results. That’s a lesson that some people forget – that beyond your own clients the first place to focus is on clients and organizations with which other attorneys in your firm already have relationships. They are the low hanging fruit.

Be proactive from the start. Offer to do something for other practice areas and their clients BEFORE you ask them for help. Not only will you build on the business you already have…you’ll also reinforce how important your firm is to the client.

Working With Your Colleagues Inside the Firm

Cross selling builds on relationships the firm already has. Lawyers refer work to other lawyers they know and trust. It’s your goal to BE that one they know and trust.

Two parts….

List OTHER firm practice areas that YOU could cross sell to YOUR clients and which attorneys YOU can help, and set a date for a meeting

List YOUR practice areas that OTHERS could sell to THEIR clients and which attorneys can help you, and set a date for a meeting.

Working With The Firm’s Marketing Department

Far too many attorneys treat their firm’s marketing department as a nuisance. Support their needs, and YOU benefit.

First, set a meeting to discuss Marketing’s needs and how you can help THEM.

Some possibilities…

They need content for the website to keep it fresh. (Case studies etc.) They need articles for newsletters and alerts. They need experts to comment on issues when the press calls. They need firm representation at community and business functions. They need speakers for both internal and external audiences. They need support when creating a new business development initiative. They need help gathering information on the firm’s presence in organizations. The number of firm attorneys in various organizations has widespread implications…who should they send to conferences, who can help if someone is running for the Board of that organization, etc.

Second, set a meeting to discuss how Marketing can help YOU can achieve your objectives.

Some possibilities…

You need marketing materials ready at a moment’s notice so prepare several samples. Never give a prospect everything the firm has at once. Have Marketing help you plan a three-stage process, so that you can create true points of contact with this prospect or referral source. You need visibility, so consider how Marketing can help you create speaking and writing opportunities to build credibility. You may need Marketing’s help strategizing and preparing materials for a presentation or meeting.

Make marketing a habit—Do something every single day.

This article has been excerpted from “The Little Black Book: A Lawyer’s Guide To Creating A Marketing Habit in 21 Days.”

After learning to make more money and finding out ways to protect your money, you next need to learn how to budget your money for maximum utilization.

According to the book, a budget is a plan to coordinate your most important resources (such as money and time) and expenditures.  There are 2 kinds of budgets:

Budget deficit excess of spending over income you spend more than you earn Budget surplus excess of income over spending you earn more than you spend

The reason most people are poor is because all their lives, all they’ve known is not having enough money, hence, they only have a plan for “budget deficit”.   They have never experienced having more money than they could ever expect to spend.  They think only lottery winners, corrupt politicians, or greedy businessmen can have a “budget surplus”.   The key to having a budget surplus is realizing that it is possible for you to have it.

There are 2 ways to generate a budget surplus:

You can apply Financial IQ # 1 to make more money, thereby increasing your income, or You can cut expenses, and reduce your spending.

Both strategies will tip the equation to your favor such that your income will be greater than your expenses and you create that extra cash a.k.a. “budget surplus”.

Most people and businesses only know how to cut expenses, especially in these times of financial uncertainty.  But you can only do so much in terms of cutting expenses without sacrificing your mental, emotional and physical health.  You don’t need to starve yourself to create a budget surplus. If you apply Financial IQ # 1 – make more money, you can stretch the other side of the equation and achieve the same thing.  The same applies to business. A business without sales is NOT a business. So aside from minimizing the costs of your business, you also need to learn to sell more and boost your income!

Robert Kiyosaki offers 4 tips to plan for a budget surplus:

Budget tip #1 – A budget surplus is an expense Make spending for budget surplus a priority Pay yourself first, even when income is less than your expenses Use the pressure of not having enough money to think of ways on how to generate that extra cash Budget tip #2 – The expense column is the crystal ball Discover what you’re spending on, and you will know if your plan is working to give you a budget surplus or a budget deficit Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad says, “you can tell a person’s future by looking at what they spend their time and money on.” Budget tip #3 – My assets pay for my liabilities Instead of using your hard-earned money to pay for your liabilities like a car or a flat screen TV, make that money work for you by using it to build assets and use the income from those assets to pay for your car or your flat screen TV. Budget tip #4 – Spend to get rich Know when to spend and when to cut back.  Most people only know how to cut back.  Spending wisely to grow your money is a harder skill to master. Learn to do more with less and use the pressure to become smarter in making more money

Rich Money Habits Review Notes:

Budgeting is boring.  That’s what most people say.  However, it is one the most important rich money habits that you will have to learn.  A budget is like a map.  The only way to get to your destination is to know where you are right now, and use your plan to discover how to get to where you want to be. Consciously working on your money habits is a life-long process, and it starts with taking care of the resources that you have – that is budgeting your money and time.  What others don’t realize is that we all have 24 hours in a day.  Some people multiply their impact by providing livelihood to thousands of people and generating more money not only for themselves but for the whole community.  Others just sit around all day never doing anything to make their lives easier.  To me, it is not a question of do we need to budget or not.  It is a matter of realizing that to live your life to the fullest, you need to make the most of what you have. Be patient.  The problem of TV shows is that everything is fast.  Yesterday a child was born. The next day he’s already a teenager.  The next week he himself is already having his own kid.  Life is not a TV show.  It is a series of small steps earned each day.  So have a plan and learn to adjust that plan along the way.  As Robert Kiyosaki says “take it one day at a time.”