Friday, February 20, 2009

 

When Farm Insurance Agents Bring Cash To The Funeral - The Farm Lives On

Farm insurance agents understand better than all the rest of your farm or business advisors put together that cash money delivered at the death of a key person is often the only thing that keeps your enterprise alive.They know that key person life insurance proceeds are likely to be the only money coming in at a time when so much money is going out.

The definition of key person life insurance varies, but in a nut shell it is life insurance designated to replace the loss of an individual whose value is important to the business.Typically this is meant to be someone other than the business owner, such as one or more employees whose role is important.These are the people you'd say, "I don't know how we'd get along without..." and whom you will have to replace if they leave.

Who are your key people?Why don't you make a list of your production team leaders, managers, supervisors, and other key people?Then ask yourself what would it mean to you if one or more of them, the valuable ones, left - died, quit, became disabled, etc.What would you do, would their loss effect profitability?

How exactly would you replace them if you had to do so all of a sudden?If they really are key people they must be replaced - because their important jobs must still get done by someone.Everybody else is already working flat out doing their own jobs.

How long will it take to find their replacement?How much will you have to pay the new person?Will it be more or less than you are paying your existing key person?How long will it take to train them and how much will training then cost?Who will train them and who will do their job while the training takes place?

The risks associated with having a key person stuck down with a long term illness or death, are real indeed.Farm insurance agents have charts and formulas that can put actual numbers together based on the loss your business will face in the event one or more of your key people leaves.

What are the odds, given the ages of your key people - that one or more of them will leave before you want them to?Farm insurance agents also have actuarial tables that will tell you the odds?When you understand the odds you can make the decision - can we afford to take the risk or should we insure some or all of it?

When you take the risk you are quite literally betting the farm on a roll of the dice.When you off-load the risk, paying a small fee to the farm insurance company, the farm is safe.If anybody loses it will be the insurance company.

Farm insurance agents can help you determine how much cash you will need to have instantly available, how much money the farm life insurance company will need to deliver, money neither you or the farm have to pay back.

In my opinion the best way to make sure you are protecting your farm business, your family and yourself is to work with an experienced farm insurance agent whose opinions you trust.

If you don't know a farm insurance agent like that, ask a farmer or business owner like yourself, someone you trust and whose opinions have been solid help for you in the past.

Ask them for the name of farm insurance agents they have used that they are the happiest with.Then call the farm insurance agent and set up a time to get together!

And when you meet with them, honestly describe your situation and ask for their advice.


About the Author

Successful farmers understand that concentrating on the immediate short term decisions that add to their profits , and that require countless hours of their time, should not take all of their energy, They understand that the valuable insights of their farm insurance agents can help them focus on what is important to them, their family, and the farm - for years to come.

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Planning Your 2009 Online Wholesale Store Correctly

Whether you want to start earning more in a wholesale video games store, local business or project you have running, planning strategically is key.As by experience: tactical repertoires, intuition and your own gut feeling are excellent resources and assets you or someone you know may have a gift!However, if you have strategically planned before you either never lost which is incredible irresistible to remind yourself or, the chances of losing for you are slim when strategically planning?

Strategic planning should be number one and any other type of planning should go second this year and every other year.The best option for 2009 and every other year is strategic thinking and strategic planning.The overwhelming evidence to support the facts is on our today greatest billion dollar and million dollar companies who thrive for many years.So rule number one, strategy first!

Once you have understood that strategy is your best choice, build your business plan.As simple as it reads!These are utterly ugly known words for most people, but reality being a business plan is a road map for both your year and your business.Great news is that a business plan can be started and done in as little as one page to guide you depending on the task, and if the business venture is larger you just expand on what you initially done in the first page.

Personally, for my wholesale video games endeavors I prepared a very simple business plan.For other new projects that are of interest to me I expanded, you should do the same from the start of your very first started page of your business plan.An excellent bargain guide that I read in my vacations is called the One Page Business Plan by Jim Horan.Go to Borders or any other book store and acquire it.It is an excellent, short and very precise way of starting, expanding and finishing a business plan.

The amount of time you put into your strategic planning, the less amount of time you will have to spend on brainstorming on what will be the best move, best position, and best course of action or conclusion for any challenging situation at hand.But what is strategic planning and how can you apply it to your business endeavors in 2009?

Putting it in layman terms for the benefit of everyone, strategic planning is nothing else than a course of actions already decided and planned by levels when certain steps get completed and done successfully when things go the way as planned or when things get challenging.As you probably know by now there is a big difference between knowing what you will end up doing and worst case scenario in case the unpredictable happen, than having to tactically create a quick brainstormed solution if things go wrong or the way you thought were supposed to happen.

Whether you end up creating your very first wholesale store on the internet, be it a wholesale video games, the latest Ron Jeremy DVD store, a fashion design handbag mall or any considered crazy idea heard that likely turns an excellent profit on the internet: be smart and think strategically by creating a business plan with strategy steps from point of start to point of finish.It would be worth the time if it turns a profit, right?


About the Author

Finding Wholesale Video Games is one of the business components Joaquin serves as reference source, e-commerce coach and certified author.

His focus today is assisting people receive extra income through the acquirement of an in-demand Wholesale Video Games Distributor.

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

 

How To Generate Hot, Qualified Mortgage Leads In Australia

National Australia Bank (or NAB) is the second largest financial institution by market capitalisation in Australia after Commonwealth Bank.It is one of the world's top 30 financial services companies with total assets of A dollar 474 billion as at 30 September 2006.It operates across 10 countries serving 6 million banking customers and over 2.3 million wealth management customers.

The National Australia Bank Group is organised around four key businesses: Australia - NAB and MLC brands; United Kingdom- Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank brands; New Zealand - Bank of New Zealand brand; and nabCapital, formerly Institutional Markets & Services, which operates internationally.In 1893, National Bank Limited was formed.Up until 1 October 1981 it continued to trade as The National Bank of Australasia Limited, only after the merger with the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited did it become known as National Australia Bank.

In 1858 Alexander Gibb, a Melbourne gentleman, enlisted Andrew Cruickshank, a local merchant and pastoralist, to raise the capital to establish National Bank of Australasia with headquarters in Melbourne.Cruickshank became its first chairman while Gibbs left after being passed over for the position of General Manager.The bank opened its first branch in South Australia the same year.Expansion to other Australian states followed, with branches opening in Tasmania (1859), Western Australia (1866), New South Wales (1885) and finally Queensland.

The flexible mortgage was first successfully introduced in Australia in the early 1990 leading to the phrase Australian mortgage being used to describe this type of arrangement.The term flexible mortgage refers to a UK residential mortgage that offers flexibility in the requirements to make monthly repayments.Typical features include the facility, to make overpayments (more than the normal amount), to redraw (borrow back) any previous overpayments, to underpay- less than the normal amount, to take a payment holiday - stop repayments for a period, typically 3 to 12 months.

These features allow a flexible mortgage to be adaptable to individual circumstances.This is especially useful for self employed borrowers and those with a variable income.By way of example, borrowers whose income includes a significant but irregular commission component might make use of commission payments to make overpayments, thereby reducing the term or enabling them to underpay at other times.With traditional mortgages, borrowers often face large penalties for additional capital repayments or if payments were not made on time.

The bank opened a representative office in Tokyo in 1946, later upgraded to a branch in 1985.The banks overseas interest expanded more rapidly in the 1970.It opened a branch in Singapore in 1971, and representative offices in Jakarta (1973) and Hong Kong (1974).It took minority interests in merchant banks in these locations at the same time, and in Hong Kong established a 50-50 joint venture merchant bank with Mitsubishi Bank and Trust, but withdrew from these arrangements in 1984.Its first US presence was established in 1977 with a branch and an agency in Los Angeles that closed in 1993.

NAB booked two write-downs associated with HomeSide.First, in July 2001, NAB had a dollar 450 million write down of the value of its capitalised mortgage servicing rights (CMSRs) during the quarter ending June 30, 2001, and was the result of exceptionally high mortgage refinance volumes which lowered the value of the CMSRs, combined with a more challenging capital markets environment in which to hedge interest rate risk.

This was followed shortly by a second write-down reported in September totalling dollar 1.75 billion; this second write-down consisted of US dolar 400 million from an incorrect interest rate assumption embedded in the mortgage servicing rights valuation model, US dollar 760 million from changed assumptions in the model flowing from the continued unprecedented uncertainty and turbulence in the mortgage servicing market, and US$590 million from writing off of the goodwill.In total, NAB booked dollar 2.2 billion in losses due to HomeSide.


About the Author

Get Outsourcing services


Use Aurtralia Mortgage


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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

 

Don't Forget What Makes Your Exhibit Work - Training Trade Show Exhibit Staff

The purpose of trade show exhibits is to allow potential clients to gain knowledge about your company and the services and products you have available.You may have the most expensive exhibit at the convention, but if that potential client leaves without receiving the information they need, your exhibit has failed.You can't just put one knowledgeable individual in the group of booth managers; you need a well-trained staff that knows how to work together as a team to meet their marketing goals.At the same time, they need to be familiar with the products and services the company has to offer.

Know Your Products And Services


It may sound simple, but just because they are an employee, they may not be a good representative for your company unless they are properly trained.

They should be able to suggest alternative solutions to a client's problem or how to refer them to another team player without appearing to be unknowledgeable.Every product or service your company has to offer is the solution for more than one problem.Educate your staff about every aspect of the product you're featuring with the trade show exhibit.Sit down with them and discuss past customer problems and how they were solved.The idea is important tidbits of information so each person can speak as an expert on the subject and hopefully attract additional leads.

Work The Crowds At Trade Show Exhibits


As soon as a person walks past your booth, your chance for a profitable relationship has passed.

Visitors will not wait around for information on your company.Train your staff as a group to identify various leads and how to bring them in for the sales pitch.This should be done as quickly as possible without appearing to rush the client in an effort to cover as much ground as possible.Teach them to listen for the client's key phrase that will help them to identify the problem they may have and then be able to offer a solution.

As the crowds at your trade show exhibits start to thin, make sure the staff knows how to attract other visitors from other parts of the building.This will help rebuild excitement around your products and services.

Company Culture And Brand Are Important


The typical consumer buys the company as much as, if not more than, the actual brand itself.

You've most likely spent a lot of money creating an image for your company; let it shine through in your trade show exhibit as well as in the staff.Make sure everyone is thoroughly schooled on exactly the image you're trying to convey and how this can then reflect back on potential clients.

This is more than just a polished outside appearance.Identify key words that highlight your best features and make sure to include them in any sales presentation.How your products and services are presented should always reflect the main idea your company would like to express about themselves.

With a trade show exhibit, Chicago business and those elsewhere have an opportunity to make a presentation to a large potential client base.Exhibitors should always make the most of this situation and that includes having your trade show exhibit staffed with knowledgeable and polite team players.Your staff will find that by being well trained, the whole experience will be more enjoyable and ultimately lead to more sales.


About the Author

Christine O'Kelly is an author for the Chicago trade show exhibits professionals at Ion Exhibits.

They offer new, refurbished, and rental trade show displays as well as storage, repair, and any other services for a trade show exhibit Chicago and area clients may need.

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Monday, February 16, 2009

 

Prioritize and Commit to Success

Are you as successful at your job as you could be?What is it that drives you to do your very best?This article will provide you with information about how to prioritize and commit to being successful.Whether you're an executive, a manager or a team leader, the following information will be beneficial to you.

Think about your last day at work before you went on your most recent vacation.Didn't you get as much done in that day as you would normally get done in two, three, or even four days?(Be honest!)


On the night preceding the day before your vacation, you likely sat down with a piece of paper and listed all of the things that had to get finished the following day - your gottas (I gotta do this, and I gotta") Then you committed that they'd all be done by the time you left the office the next day.

Right?

On the morning of the day before your vacation, you arrived at the office on time - maybe even early.But you didn't head for the coffee machine.No, you went straight into the first gotta on your list.You likely also did things in a slightly different order from usual.You took the least favored, most distasteful task on your list and got it out of the way quickly, instead of having it hanging overhead all day long (the way you normally would!) With that tough one out of the way, you were feeling pretty good, and so you tore into the next task on your list, and the next one after that.If anyone came to chat about last night's game, you politely but firmly informed that person that you were just too busy - and got back to business.

As you completed each of your gottas, you felt your energy rising, so that by halfway through the day you were buzzing with a sense of accomplishment that drove your enthusiasm level ever higher, raising your mood and painting a smile on your face.Your obviously energized and enthusiastic demeanor infected your colleagues.They started to ramp up effort, to smile a little more, and they became similarly enthusiastic.The atmosphere in the office got a little extra spark, and this lifted you even further.

At the end of the day, you had all of your gottas completed.You were as high as if you'd been on high-octane caffeine, even if you hadn't had a drop all day!You felt good.Now, that's focus!

So what did you do that day to get so focused?Let's have a look.

First, You Created a Vision


"By the time I leave tomorrow, I'll have cleared my desk and put my affairs in order so that I am free to be away for two weeks.

"


When your vision gets knocked offline by events around you, you are like a $10 billion guided missile without a target.

You can fly around in circles looking pretty impressive, but eventually you're going to run out of fuel and crash and burn.If your vision has been hammered by recent economic changes, get working on a new one - now!Take time to figure out what you really want for yourself, your family and your business.Get it clear in your head and paint this target in front of you every day.

Second, you formulated a set of goals that would deliver your vision your gottas.Having a great vision is useless unless you formulate clear, achievable goals to ensure that your vision becomes reality.You must plot a course to take you from where you are now to your target, with checkpoints that let you know when you go off course.

Third, You Made a Commitment


"I absolutely must get these tasks completed by the time I leave the office tomorrow.

"


This is the most common stumbling block that people tend to hit, even if they are accustomed to planning by creating compelling visions and formulating achievable goals.

They fail to commit.If you've ever made a New Year's resolution you failed to complete, you know what happens to plans without commitment.If there's no commitment, the fault is most likely with your vision - it simply isn't compelling enough.Otherwise, the commitment naturally would follow.If you were fatally ill and had just one month to live, but could get a cure if you had $1 million more than your current total net worth, would you get the money?Of course you would.Or you'd kill yourself trying even before the month was out!You know that your vision is right when it has the same sense of urgency.A real commitment immediately gets you off the ground and in search of your target.

Before you spend one more day out of focus, stop and look carefully at your life.Be sure that your guidance mechanism has a clear target encoded into it, and that you've mapped a route to target that makes you want to take off right now.Get the Day-Before-Vacation feeling every day!


About the Author

Jim Sirbasku is co-founder and CEO of Profiles International, a leading provider of human resource management solutions and employment assessments for businesses worldwide.

For more information about how to prioritize and commit to success, visit our website.

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