Trustee Fees: How Much is Enough and How Much is Too Much?
November 30, 2009
I am often amused by the ads and offers I see concerning living trusts.
Almost always, one of the big sales pitches is how a living trust will save th*usands of doll*rs in “nasty” probate fees.
This leads the consumer to believe that you pay for probate, but living trusts are “fr*e.” (that is, after you’ve paid the promoter to set one up for you).
Not so.
Here’s an email I received from one of my subscribers (she has given me permission to discuss her question in this article):
Hi Phil, My mom passed away recently and my sister is 1st trustee. She claims she gets 10% of my mom’s estate as 1st trustee. Is this true? What is the normal fee for 1st trustee?
Great question. Often one of the biggest, if not the biggest, areas of dispute between children or heirs after a death occurs.
What is a trustee fee? How is it calculated? Are there other fees?
If you have a trust and don’t know the answer to these questions, I think the proper thought is “Uh-ohh!”
OK, let’s have a quick review of trustee fees.
The 5 Commandments Of Website Promotion
November 30, 2009
The 5 Commandments Of Website Promotion
by: Jason Tarasi
Website promotion is truly the reason behind internet marketing. The purpose of all your internet marketing activities is to drive traffic to your website so that your website can make the sale, or otherwise generate revenue for your business. There are literally hundreds of tips and techniques for promoting your website and driving traffic your way. However, there are some that stand apart from others as proven effective website promotion techniques.
Some of the most effective website promotion methods I’ve experienced include:
- Search engine marketing
- Pay-per-click advertising
- Link exchanges
- Buying traffic in bulk
- Email marketing
Some other fairly effective methods include participation in newsgroups and online forums, operation of referral programs, banner advertising, and issuance of press releases to gain exposure from the media. Placement of classified advertisements in newspapers, ezines, magazines, trade publications and in online directories is also somewhat effective.
Choose Your Own Guru
November 29, 2009
What is a guru?
A guru is a teacher. A mentor. On the internet a guru is someone who has a lot of experience and has made the grade, ie. He/She has set up a business that is financially successful and is willing to share the experience with anyone who is interested.
Are you a guru? If not please read on.
The majority of internet gurus are only too happy to teach. Becoming a guru in the true sense of the word.
Pick a guru. There are at least a dozen who not only publish a newsletter with articles showing some of the tricks-of-the-trade but have also published ebooks showing in detail the best way to start and run a business.
Learn from the real experts. There are hundreds of people out there who purport to be experts in ecommerse. Most of them have just read a few books and composed their own book comprised of second hand information. You may ask "What’s wrong with that?’ it’s the same information written in a different style."
Maximize Your Lead Generation Efforts by Recycling Your Leads
November 28, 2009
The basic lead generation process is pretty much the same from company to company. Inquiries come in?they’re qualified?and then sent to the sales team. Some turn into customers. Some don’t.
Which means that, over time, every organization ends up with a pile of prospects that either disengaged during the sales cycle (for whatever reason)?or decided to go with a competitor.
So here’s the big question: is anyone in your company following up with these potential future opportunities?
I can tell you that very few companies I’ve worked with have systems in place to nurture these longer-term prospects. Yet, the potential for increased sales is significant, and can be very cost-effective.
Here’s one reason these prospects don’t get much attention: good salespeople tend to spend most of their time on higher-probability opportunities with the best chance of closing the quickest. And who can blame them? Reps are under constant pressure to close business and meet quotas. That means there’s little time for lower-probability prospects.
But that doesn’t mean you should throw these leads away. There can be tremendous long-term value in these opportunities?if you can set up a system that allows you to follow up on them consistently-and without breaking the bank.
3 Questions No Job Seeker Ever Wants To Be Asked?
November 27, 2009
Employer and interviewers expect you to answer tough question during interviews. Take a few minutes to brainstorm on how you might elaborate on the following answers. The answers you give to these questions that will be asked during your interview will be very important in your career prospects.
Suppose you were asked these questions right now. Could you give a good answer? If not, study, study, study.
1. "Can you explain why you’ve been out of work so long?"
Mothers usually have an easier time with this one than others do because the reason for long unemployment can almost always be related to raising the family. However, if you were just traveling or not looking for work very much, it’s more difficult.
"I felt that before I settled into a career job I had better get some personal travel out of the way. So, I traveled all over the country as a sort of self-education. The travel bug is out of my system and I’m ready to start on that career."
Transform Any Business into a Go-Getting Power House by Working SMART
November 26, 2009
Probably as well known as SWOT, SMART turns goals, objectives and tasks into concrete deliverables. If there is one key to turning busy, ineffectual organisations into models of streamlined efficiency then this is it.
More accurately SMART ought to be SMARRRT. There are at least three equally valid definitions for the ‘R’.
OK, the 10 second introduction to working smarter:
Specific: Be completely clear on the outcome expected of the goal, objective or task
Measurable: Phrase the statement of what is to be achieved so that the achievement of that outcome can be clearly measured.
Achievable: The idea is to clarify and motivate. There is nothing more demoralising than carefully constructed, but utterly impossible, goals.
Realistic: Given your current situation: is your goal realistic? Relevant: Is this specific task or goal relevant to the overall aims of the company or plan? Resourced: Are the relevant time, people, facilities and equipment available to deliver the desired outcome?
Time bound: Make sure there is a claim time limit on the completion of the activity.
Properly applied, SMARRRT transforms your business.
An example:
How To Avoid Being a Marketing Flop
November 25, 2009
How To Avoid Being a Marketing Flop
by: Jo Han Mok
Most companies are just not customer focused in their advertising and marketing.
It’s almost always about themselves, how long they have been in the business, how many branches they have, how many awards they have won, how organized they are They actually think that all these would make people into customers. The truth cannot be further from this.
People really don’t care about hearing about you. You must make them see how you can benefit them. Remember WIIFM - What’s in it for me?
You really need to sneak your way into your customers’ head and speak to their needs, their wants, their wishes, their dreams, their fears, their desires.
You must then offer them benefits, and show them how your products and services can help solve their problems, achieve results they only dreamt about, take away pain that they might have been feeling in a particular area.
Another problem in most advertising is that people are selling the wrong things when they should be selling benefits.
The Myth of What We Manage
November 25, 2009
Perhaps it is merely semantics, but an underlying problem I find that people have as it relates to the success in their life lies in a proper understanding of what exactly it is that we manage. Think about it. We have time management (In fact I have a seminar on this very topic, some of which is excerpted below), and financial management, and relational management, weight management, career management, and many, many more.
The fact is though, that we don’t manage any of those things. What we do manage is ourselves, as they relate to those things. We don’t manage time. Time clicks by, second by second, whether we do anything or not. What we do is manage ourselves, and our activities, as the time passes. We make choices as to what we will do and be involved in. The problem as well as the solution lies not with time, but with us.
We don’t manage money. A pile of money will sit there forever if left alone. It won’t grow or shrink. What we manage is ourselves and the decisions we make in regard to how we will spend the money. Getting the idea?
Ten FAST Ways to Sell Your Products
November 24, 2009
Always give a reason for the sale for credibility.
1. If you have old Inventory, give a closeout sale.
2. Return sales. Sometimes called a scratch and dent sale. Offer any less than perfect inventory at a special discount. Always mention the character flaw with the product — the corner’s bent, label glue scratch somewhere.
3. Only one or two left. Sell them for half price. Post on eBay. Combine them with another product, change the price to cover half of the orginal price.
4. Discount sale. You could create one or two-time seasonal discount sale. Use Ikea’s model of a sale only once a year. How about holidays, the President’s birthday, or the company’s X year sale. Auto dealers have over used this and people don’t pay much attention to them any longer. Be careful not to do the same.
5. Use Amazon’s model and offer free shipping for orders over $X. Alternatively, offer free shipping with limited dates or if they upgrade.
6. Have higher priced items for sale? Offer a special payment with automatic billing to their credit card.
A Tool For Selling New Ideas!
November 23, 2009
Imagine tossing a pebble into a crystal clear pond on a still day, & watching the ripples make their way to the shore. A tiny cause has a massive effect.
But on a windswept stormy day, you could hurl the largest boulder into the same pool, and the effect would be felt for no more than a few feet.
And so it is with your sales message.
Your prospects are in a trance that is like a still pool of awareness. They are in an "I’m worried about money" trance. They are in an "I wish I could finally find that somebody special" trance. They are in an "I’m sick of my dead end job" trance, & so on.
If you enter that trance with your words, your prospects will follow you, & accept your suggestions. They will give those suggestions power, like the pebble that makes its presence felt on the shore.
Selling your product or service involves introducing new ideas, more often than not. How do you enter an existing trance, & turn it into a new one?
Frequently, your research will tell you that there is an ideological hurdle that you must clear in order to make the sale.
