Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Reduce Your Electricity Bill by Following These 10 Simple Tips

Paying the bills at the end of every month can be an overwhelming and daunting task. Although the amount that must be paid is often non-negotiable, small changes can be made that can help reduce your overall electricity costs.

Here are ten easy ways that every home owner can use to reduce the amount of their monthly electricity bill:

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1. Switch it off. It is easy to leave multiple lights on around the house, but making a conscious effort to switch lights off upon leaving the room can be an effective way to cut electricity usage by up to ten percent, cutting the cost of the overall bill.

2. Compare the prices of competing companies. Using websites that compare the rates between utility companies to determine which company is offering the best rates, and making the switch to this company is an effective way to save each month.

3. Children, as much as we all love them, are often the culprits for using excess electricity in the home and therefore educating children in the home about power usage and the importance of switching off lights is an effective way to save money.

4. Unplug it. If you are not using it, unplug it, especially items that have standby lights. This couple of seconds can go a long way towards decreasing the electrical bill over a period of time. Common culprits are mobile phone chargers and laptops, as well as small household appliances.

5. Using programmable thermostats or making a conscious effort to reduce the temperature in the home a mere two degrees can be an effective way to save, month after month.

6. Switch light bulbs. Using CFL bulbs rather than traditional light bulbs can reduce the electricity consumption in the household by up to seventy five percent. Not only are electricity costs reduced, but these bulbs require replacement less often than traditional light bulbs.

7. Appliances in the home should be checked to ensure that they are energy efficient and old appliances should be swapped for energy efficient models.

8. Make use of energy consultant services to determine where the energy is being used in your home and receive electricity tips about how to use energy wisely in the home.

9. Manufacturers of electricity monitors reckon you can knock approximately 10% off your electricity bill by splashing out on an electricity monitoring gizmo to monitor all the other gizmos you have in your home.

10. I hate reading post. I rarely have the energy to trawl through the mountains of envelopes and bills after a hard day at work. I switched to online billing and I have made it part of my work routine to keep tabs on my bills. I can check in on a more regular basis of my costs and I make it a challenge to make week on week reductions. I then reward myself by buying a new Xbox game and playing it for 24 hours straight on my 50" TV with all the lights on (only kidding!).

Reduce Your Electricity Bill by Following These 10 Simple Tips

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Get Disney World Theme Park Tickets

Many families nowadays are presently looking to beginnings of Disney Theme Park Tickets. They are one and only of the almost called in theme parks every summertime, and they are no wonder for you'll be able to cool off on a different sea creatures, regular play on it, just in the last analysis adherence on your family more truthful whenever you are looking to beginnings from cheap tickets these summertime, here are about you will be able to check over.

Initially, as it has the high-season, you could always calculate their important internet site to accept an assortment of deals. The beneficial affair approximately imposing the site first comprises that you are able to have approach to aggregate promos and the most actual ones at that. Whenever you've a lot babies below 12 with you, you dismiss already acquire Sea World discount tickets since kids all of the time pay lower all year-around.

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Apart from the important sites are 3rd party sites naturally. Who terminate always leaves the attempt break in along the balance of the online profession in contributive and dealing on one another their leading breakthroughs online. In a lot of directions and a lot times, third party sites is regular more reliable than the primary sites. They listing altogether the origins for Sea World coupons that you are able to get and so you are able to deliver expectant on your entrance money tickets.

Just those is not the alone ones you are able to check out. Although these online origins as discount rate theme park tickets is identical democratic since from their appliance, you should not disregard offline sources also. In that location are in addition to jolly dependable sources similar the Sunday paper, coupon books, circulars, even travel magazines.

And so whenever you are anticipating discount Busch Gardens Tickets assure these origins retired because they've always established to comprise really helpful. Acquiring your tickets earlier accomplishing the gate assists you diagonal and restrained percent away the cost. Because a beginning, whenever you aim individual day authorizes online and impresses it at home, you will arrive 10% off for each one ticket (content to conditions). Had better you determine to become the multi-day tickets, two daytimes from amusing at the marine paradise leave entirely price you the damage of 1. Though you are about the site, browsing through and through the "specials" because whatever advancements which you are able to additional make the best of. Who experiences? You might bring through a good deal to a higher degree you believed.

Get Disney World Theme Park Tickets

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Overview: Doing Business on eBay - Part 2

As stated in Part 1, because eBay is an open marketplace -- meaning that anyone can go there (eBay.com), and buy or sell items, eBay has created a feedback system. The purpose of this system is for users to grade fellow-users, as individuals. You will grade other eBay users as either positive (good), or negative (bad) -- based on their personal business reputation. The more positive feedback that you receive, the more reputable you are, as a business owner. Your feedback score (designated as a number between 1 and 10, with 10 being the best) is your publicly, worldwide-viewed, report card. If users see that you have a high feedback score, they will be more trusting of you, when it comes to buying and selling products, which can lead to get rich fast.

What is the Feedback System?

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There are two important components to the feedback system. The first part is your feedback score; the second is your feedback rating. Your feedback score represents the number of different/separate eBay users, who have had a positive transaction while doing business with you. The second part is your feedback rating. Your feedback rating represents what percentage of your customers left you positive feedback, after you've bought or sold an item within the past twelve months. You want to first, reach 100%, positive, and then maintain that percentage.

Naturally, when you first get started working on eBay, your feedback score will be zero. But, it is critical that you build your feedback score as high, and as quickly as possible. By doing so, buyers will trust you as being a reputable dealer. The fastest way to build and maintain your feedback score, and to develop a positive reputation, is by purchasing items on eBay -- especially inexpensive, one-cent digital (downloadable) items.

What are one-cent digital items?

Examples of these one-cent digital items include: recipes, coupons, pictures, images, etc. Digital items are those products that can be shipped through email. These items are ideal because the seller is able to email the item for free, and all the buyer has to do is eBay download the product. My first product purchased was A Cajun Cookbook; I paid 16 cents.

Bidding on products

The bidding process is an online auction. The majority of these digital items cost less than 50 cents. Login to eBay.com and search for the above items. Preferably, you want to find an item that cost one cent, with free shipping, and no prior bids. If there are no bids, then you will be the first bidder. Since this shopping online involves cheap items, that you're probably aren't even interested in, you should bid less than 50 cents per item. The idea is to start creating your feedback system. After bidding and winning the cookbook, I subsequently purchased several more digital products: store coupons, pictures, wallpapers, etc. I was having fun! Using the bidding method, I purchased different products from different sellers, for a total price of less than five dollars. I watched my feedback score rise from 0 to 7; then I was off to doing something else. (I used my credit card.)

If you get outbid on an item -- that's not so important, because you are going to repeat this process several times, while building your feedback scores. After you submit your bid, you'll see the "Review and Confirm Bid" page. Make sure that these details are accurate; you wouldn't want to submit a bid for 50 dollars, when you intended 50 cents. After you've reviewed all the details on the "Review and Confirm Bid" page, then click on the "Confirm Bid" button. Next, you will be taken to a confirmation page that reads "Congrats, You're The First Bidder. Hope You Win". The main focus here is to repeat this bidding process until your feedback score reaches 10. This is very important: when you're bidding on additional items, make sure that you bid on items from different sellers. Your feedback score will increase only by one point, for every different user that you do business with on eBay. Stay tuned for Part 3.

Overview: Doing Business on eBay - Part 2

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

20 Easy Offline Marketing Ideas

So often small and home-based business owners and work-at-home-moms (WAHMS) get so caught up in promoting our businesses online, we forget about the potential for marketing it offline. But begin now to focus some of your business promotion efforts offline and watch your business grow more quickly. Here are 20 marketing offline ideas to get you started:

1. Post flyers in grocery stores, post offices, libraries, banks and anywhere else that has a public bulletin board.

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2. Leave brochures or catalogues with order forms in medical buildings or offices, (doctors, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, etc.), and in hospital waiting rooms and patient rooms.

3. Ask if you can post a flyer in the window of local businesses.

4. If you have a favorite hairdresser's, talk to the owner about setting up a table or leaving business cards there for his/her customers to take.

5. When you travel, leave behind a brochure or catalogue in your hotel room with order forms, or leave behind samples as a tip for the maids.

6. Create small care packages to give away at events and include a flyer, business card, catalogue, order form, or coupon.

7. Fill a small plastic bag with a few goodies like suckers, stickers or pencils and include a flyer and coupon. Staple your business card to the outside. Hand them out to people or leave them wherever you go.

8. Host an open house in your home to introduce people to your product. Offer free coffee and desserts. Give guests a discount coupon to use on their first order. Have a drawing for free products.

9. Cold call on people introducing your product. Offer a discount off their first order.

10. Talk to schools, day cares, nursery schools and other organizations about doing fundraisers. Offer them a percentage from each sale.

11. Make flyers with a tear-off discount coupon and have the Post Office put them in PO boxes and mailboxes.

12. Place an ad in local newspapers and newsletters.

13. Put an ad your local phone book under the appropriate category.

14. Set up a table at your county fair or other local event and show samples of your products. Provide brochures or catalogues. Hold a drawing for a free products or services. Hand out flyers with a discount coupon off the first order.

15. Run a local radio ad. Or take your local DJ a plate of brownies in appreciation. Let them know your business name. Often they'll mention you on air - at no cost.

16. Place an ad in a local city magazine.

17. Hire someone to do cold calling and selling for you. Pay them hourly or by commission only.

18. Hire a student to deliver flyers, brochures or catalogues door-to-door.

19. Promote your product/services by giving away items such as caps, fridge magnets, mugs, coupons, samples, frequent user cards, etc.

20. Be prepared for the unexpected and compile a marketing kit so that you always have business materials on hand. A good place to keep these kits is in your car so that you can easily distribute them while you are out, and you can avoid missing out on a new customer because you didn't have a catalogue or business card to give those who ask.

Include any or all of the following promotional materials:

o  Flyers

o  Brochures

o  Catalogues

o  Business Cards

o  Magnets

o  Stickers

o  Lollipops with tags

o  Balloons

o  Buttons

o  Pens/pencils

o  Goodie packs.

o  Bumper Stickers

o  Window Clings

o  Mugs

o  Newsletter

o  Press Release

Coupons

o  Fax Cover Pages

Using these and other offline marketing methods will help you kick start your business or bring added growth to an existing business. Pick the ones that will work for you and start promoting your business offline today!

Article © 2009 Darlene Bishop. All rights reserved worldwide.

20 Easy Offline Marketing Ideas

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Financial Planning (Organizing your Budget)

A few years back a friend of mine accidentally saw one of my paychecks, he was shocked to see that he was earning more than me. He also noted the fact that his wife worked and mine did not. This particular friend had approach me a couple of times in need of a loan to get him through until his payday. Because I had been able to help him he had always assumed that I made more than he made. Once he realized that the situation was reversed he asked me how could we possibly being doing as well as we were.

I then asked him what type of budget he and his wife use for their household finances. He replied that they did not have a planned budget for the household bills. Well, I was surprised because this friend always seem to be very organized. I asked him how he thought he could manage his money without a budget. I explained that a budget is the cornerstone of knowing where you stand financially. I mentioned a phrase that I heard from my Dad years earlier...If you fail to plan, then you should plan to fail. I think he was a little offended and a little embarrassed, but he did see my point.

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I told that for many years my household had operated on a budget and yes at first it was not easy. Starting a budget is the hardest part, the adjustment to being responsible to show where each dollar goes is not pleasant for most people. The longer you do it the easier it becomes because you start to take pride in sticking to your budget and you begin to see the fruits of your labor. I asked him to try by starting on the following plan, which is the same one I used when I started out. I told him to use it for 6 months and then we would see if it worked.

The plan is simple: Your money needs to be divided by percentage for uses. 33% for housing, 17% for transportation, 25% for monthly bills, 10% for donations, and 15% for savings and investing. I asked him to list all of their misc. spending and notice if any money was being wasted. The savings account is also utilized for emergency needs such as home or car repairs.
Right from the start my friend said that 25% would not cover his monthly bills. I told him that he would need to use the portion designated for savings and pay off the credit cards. It turned out that they were maxed out on several cards and that was the main drawdown on their income. At the end of 6 months I met with him and he said they had paid off three of the cards and had listed their monthly misc. expenses. With that list they had realized that they were spending about 0.00 per month on things that were not neccessary. That combined with the savings on credit card payments had allowed them to put ,000.00 in savings. They will soon have all their credit cards paid off and will be able to place more money in the savings column.

This budget is a very simple example, the actual budget for each family requires a little fine tuning to match the current situation of each household. More advanced examples will be soon posted at Wongaa.com.

Financial Planning (Organizing your Budget)

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Qnanza Review - Can Qnanza Live Up To The Hype?

This Qnanza Review takes a look at one of the latest network marketing opportunities. Qnanza is a spin-off company of AdzZoo and is their couponing division, the "Q" refers to coupon and "nanza" is for Bonanza. The popularity of online couponing has increased as many families look at saving on their shopping - they can sign-up to the Qnanza Club as a member for free and get coupons with the potential to save a substantial percentage off retail prices. Coupons are emailed on a daily basis for local business and members can personalise their categories so that they only receive coupons that are relevant to their needs. Members can also earn rewards by recommending Qnanza to friends and family.

The business opportunity is to sell online coupons to local businesses with an upfront commission and then a recurring residual commission while the business continues to use the Qnanza couponing service. Of course, there is also the opportunity to build a team who sell couponing to businesses

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The business can be joined at two levels, as a sales representative or as a campaign director.

To join as a sales representative costs .95 per month and enables you to earn an upfront commission of 0 for every business that signs up to the couponing service, then a monthly renewal commission of can be earned for each business that remains onboard with the Qnanza network.

To join as a campaign director costs 0 to join and then .95 per month. The potential to generate an income then includes, in addition to ones highlighted above for the sales representative, commission for building a team.

People sign-up to the Qnanza Club for free and get coupons with the potential to save 50% to 90% off retail prices. Coupons are emailed on a daily basis for local business and members can personalise their categories so that they only receive coupons that are relevant to their needs. Members can also earn rewards by recommending Qnanza to friends and family.

So Qnanza looks like a good part-time business that can generate an additional income by selling online coupons to local businesses. In order to take this to the next level involves building a team of representatives, this can be started by contacting your warm market - telling friends and family, getting them to recommend you to their warm market.The key to developing a large team is to spend time teaching and supporting your representatives - showing them the strategies that have worked for you and made you successful.Not everyone will be emulate your success, due to various reason. So a small percentage of your team will develop and help you build your business.

Therefore the challenge is to consistently keep adding new distributors and initially work with them all, giving them support and teaching them. But make sure that you concentrate your time and effort on the ones that are receptive and are effectively applying the techniques and strategies that you provide. The top performers will be applying a wide range of strategies and these will be constantly developing their skills.

Qnanza Review - Can Qnanza Live Up To The Hype?

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Monday, August 29, 2011

How to Build a Home Business With Incentive Vacation Certificates

Incentive vacation certificates- also referred to as free travel vouchers- provide an excellent opportunity for both experienced and aspiring entrepreneurs to build a home-based business with little to no investment required. In fact, because the market for these no-cost coupons is still virtually untapped, there exists real potential to achieve significant success by distributing these products. Formal training or education in marketing or sales fields is not needed because any person with a little ambition and part time availability can earn a respectable income distributing free travel vouchers.

Not many people understand what incentive vacation certificates are; let alone that they can be used to start a home-based business. This is because it's hard for most to imagine why an airline company or hotel would possibly want to give away free tickets or reservations. However, what many don't realize is that these companies still profit when they give these coupons away: the recipients will still probably buy additional services or upgrades from the airline or buy merchandise and food from the airport. Hotels know that free guests will almost certainly spend money in their gift shops or eateries. Therefore, it makes sense to give these otherwise-unused seats and rooms away instead of earning nothing. After all, the vast majority of seats and reservations go unsold except during peak times.

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How do you get free travel vouchers? It's actually quite simple. Airlines and hotel companies contract with certain outside companies who are permitted to offer these coupons to the public under very specific conditions. These companies in turn offer printing rights to consumers. Buyers can elect between free airfare vouchers, free hotel stays and complete combination packages, although each has different terms and conditions that must be met. Once you buy the printing rights (very inexpensive, typically $10 to for unlimited rights) your name or company information will be printed on the coupons along with a unique code that identifies you to the issuer.

Once you've printed some vouchers you can give them away for free or sell them- either way you'll earn money when your customer redeems. Some people find little value in free things and so marketers actually sell the vouchers to their clients, while other people can't resist the thought of a free vacation and so redeem certificates in droves. Generally speaking this is a product that is appealing to any demographic, so targeting consumers is relatively easy. Whether you charge for your products or not, you'll need to market them using one or a combination of the following marketing tactics:

*Your own travel-related website or blog
*Blog commenting and social bookmarking
*Article directory submissions
*Email campaigns
*Print
*Direct mail

With an initial investment cost of $10 or less, capital can be retained for any of these marketing methods. However, you can also market free travel vouchers at next to no cost simply by purchasing a.info domain and using free software to build a website hosted on a free server. You can then write articles yourself and submit them to article directories and drive traffic to them with blog commenting and social bookmarking- all of which can be done for free.

A home-based business distributing free travel vouchers is completely scalable. You can start off by only purchasing printing rights to airfare coupons and experiment with marketing those. As the number of consumers redeeming your certificates increase you can use the money earned to purchase additional printing rights- like a two-night hotel stay. Over time, you can offer both the airline seats and hotel reservations as part of a package. You can even buy rights to 8 night resort vouchers.

Distributing free travel vouchers is one of the few home-based businesses that anyone can get involved in that actually works. Even if you're already a successful internet or affiliate marketer, you can use no-cost vacation certificates to diversify your income streams with little investment and passive efforts- especially if you already have article marketing or other strategies in place.

If you have for printing rights and a cheap.info domain name, you can get started immediately with your own home-based business.

How to Build a Home Business With Incentive Vacation Certificates

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Paying Off Credit Card Debt With Tuna Fish

Over 609 million credit cards circulate in the United States and the average American family carries ,788 in credit card debt, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The national average for interest rates was 14 percent in August 2010. Consumers facing such statistics in their day to day lives can find relief, with a little planning and a lot of tuna fish.

Gather all your credit card statements and your checkbook. Create a spreadsheet or use personal finance software or an abacus if you wish to begin compiling an index of all your expenses and income-don't leave anything out, include every penny spent in the last three to six months.

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Tally all your debt including credit cards, student loans, auto loans, mortgage/rent, utilities, subscriptions, membership dues, any and all expenses should be listed, even the phony dog poo you play practical jokes with. Total your net income and subtract your expenses. If the difference is negative, begin to peruse through your expenses and rank them according to priority. The top priorities should be mortgage/rent, auto loans, food, utilities and the bottom of the list should contain superfluous or discretionary items such as magazine subscriptions and dining out.

Work out a budget that excludes the discretionary expenses and re-tally your income to expense differential. If your expenses still exceed your net income, begin identifying other expenses that can be reduced or eliminated and then move on to an action plan for paying off your credit card debt.

Select the credit card with the lowest balance and pay the minimum due on every other credit card. Use any spare chance you pick up from a parking lot to under the sofa cushion to throw at the lowest balance until it is paid off. Repeat this by focusing on the next higher balance and then cutting up the little plastic devils.

You can free up cash by reworking your grocery list and buying generics instead of name brands and clipping coupons. Buy frugally to fill your belly, tuna fish and Hamburger Helper will do the same trick as steak and potatoes. Also, try to make one trip a month to the grocery store to avoid impulse purchases such as candy bars and beer helmets. In addition, if you have a late model car with a hefty auto loan, inquire about refinancing or see if you can trade down for a smaller monthly payment.

Paying Off Credit Card Debt With Tuna Fish

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Benefits of Discount Coupons to Consumers and Business Owners

Promotional discount coupons are beneficial to consumers and business owners. For consumers, the primary aim of using promos is to save more on purchasing a product or service. Marketers use discount codes to interest new and existing clients, convert them into sales, and increase profit by spending less. These are the benefits of using coupon codes:

Why Coupon Codes Are Beneficial to Consumers and Marketers?

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1. Consumers can have the opportunity to try out new offers. Some consumers are hesitant of trying out new products and services. However, with promo specials, people might consider trying out new brands by spending less. People will have an opportunity to try out and purchase new products and solutions offered at discounted prices.

2. Consumers can have a significant amount of savings using online coupons.5 to 25 percent off on products and services will interest people who like to save more on purchasing items. Businesses can offer big discounts, free shipping for items, and freebies. Promo specials will make customers feel that they are valuable to a business.

3. Businesses can earn more while spending less on introducing promos to interest clients. Business owners don't need to spend more on using expensive ways of marketing their products and services. The strategy of offering benefits and rewarding customers using online deals is more effective than just having printed tools to promote your offers.

4. Business owners can maintain existing customers and gain more potential clients. Offering discounts, rewards, and freebies is a great way to maintain and establish positive connection with your audience. Provide promos and special coupon codes to reward loyal clients. Offer discounts to new clients for repeat purchase.

These are the benefits consumers and marketers can gain from online coupons. Business owners can provide special offers to increase client base while consumers can use online good deals to save more.

Benefits of Discount Coupons to Consumers and Business Owners

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Quizno's Sandwich Company

Quizno's is the second leading sub shop company today; Subway is the first leading shop. Quizno's does have other competitors such as Blimpie's and Jerry's Subs; however, Subway is Quizno's primary competitor. The Subway website reads, "Subway is the world's largest submarine sandwich chain with more than 30,000 restaurants in 87 countries." (Subway History 2009). Rebecca Steinfort, the Chief Marketing Officer for Quizno's said, "Our main competition is Subway, which is an 800-pound gorilla" (York 2009). Subway began back in the 1960's, according to the Subway official site page. The site reads that, Subway was started in New York by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck; Subway has been in business for over forty-three years (Subway, 2009).
Size and Trend of Industry

According to the National Restaurant Association, the quick-service restaurant industry is very profitable; the profit revenues represent 47.5% (or 1 billion) of the food dollar. The quick service industry in the U.S. receives profits of up to 120 billion. The convenience of quick-service has proven to be a substantial success for this industry. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, between 2000 and 2010, the consumption and spending on fast food is expected to increase six percent mainly because of the new-age families that spend more time engaging in activities outside of the home. According to an affiliate of the Dun & Bradstreet Company, Hoover Incorporated, many households favor convenience over cooking, which prompts quick-service restaurants to place their franchises in more unorthodox locations such as inside airports or gas stations. According to Hoover's Inc., fast-food chains in the U.S. are looking to accommodate the increase in consumer spending by targeting international markets, particularly in China (Advertising Age 2009).

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The company seeks to be the number one sub shop choice. In its attempt Quizno's has made tremendous progress through its interesting, yet questionable advertising techniques. In Quizno's advertising techniques, they have created ads that are targeted primarily to men and women between the ages of 18-34 years of age. According to an article from the Mcclean Marketing Group titled "Quiznos sponge monkeys revisited - Buzz isn't enough," the restaurants' target audience is 18-34 year olds and its spots are created with this audience in mind. In the past, Quizno's had used a commercial ad, created by the Martin Agency, which used a sponge monkey as the spokes person. When the ad was created, the idea was to create an eye catching and interesting commercial that would stand out from its competitors. In a Washington Post News Week article, the sponge monkey in the commercial is described as, "A small, furry creature, wearing a bowler hat, levitates as he sings an ode to Quizno's subs" (Stevenson 2005). Other past marketing techniques used by Quizno's included the Quiz Kidz program, "in which a special menu was developed for the little ones and initially launched with a "kids-eat-free" promotion." This Business Network article also mentions the purpose of the Quiz Kidz program, which was to attract parents who would, instead of a sub, enjoy a salad or pasta. Overall, the sponge monkey commercial was a success in grabbing the attention of viewers; however, it had drawn in a vast number of complaints from customers who felt the commercial was unpleasant and tasteless. On the other hand, the Quiz Kidz program was a success due to its family oriented approach. According to this Business Net article, the Quiz Kids program increased "evening and weekend business, it nearly tripled sales." These are the major past marketing activities that have been presented by Quizno's. (Edwards 2009 p. 2).

The current marketing activities that Quizno's is currently using include delivery and catering services; Quizno's has also altered its menu to surpass Subway's five dollar foot-long deal. In doing so, Quizno's is currently offering the four dollar Torpedo sub which claims to be a better tasting sub for a lower price. In the attempt to promote the lower priced sub, Quizno's has taken the sexually suggestive approach in its current commercial ads. Advertising for the Torpedo sub was created by the advertising agency Nitro. The commercial ad is focused on the Torpedo sub; however, in the commercial an actor and a voice over is used; the actor and the voice over both say sexually suggestive phrases such as, "Put it in me," and "Say it Sexy." This commercial has also drawn up much attention for Quizno's however it has stirred up many complaints as well. (Ehrke 2009)

In addition to the captivating commercials and lower priced subs, Quizno's has developed and implemented the "Million Sub Giveaway." In this tactic, Quizno's is offering free subs to customers who agree to share personal information; mainly their email addresses. According to an "Advertising Age" article titled, "Quizno's throws Subway curve with Sexy 4-dollar foot-long," "Quizno's offered a "Million Sub Giveaway," "which is an online effort that e-mailed a coupon to the first million customers to give their names and e-mail addresses." These marketing activities are fairly new to the public, and are continuing to be promoted on national and international levels (York 2009 p. 7).

According to Advertising Age, in 2008 Quizno's spent million on advertising via the Nitro Group, with the total profit/revenue at an estimated .9 billion. In contrast Quizno's competitor spent over 300 million dollars on ads (York, 2009 p. 10).

Franchising a Quizno's. According to the Quizno's internet homepage, in order to franchise a Quizno's certain criteria must be met. To buy a Quizno's franchise, you need a credit score and a net worth of 5,000. As a part of your net worth, you need ,000 in liquid assets like cash or stocks which you can use to invest in tour restaurant franchise opportunities. Net worth is defined as your total assets; so that's cash, stocks, homes, cars, recreational vehicles, businesses, as so on, less your total debt (Quizno's Homepage 2009).

Referring back to the Quizno's homepage, "You can have between three and six employees working at one time. You might have 15 total employees on your payroll if you use part-time employees to work on different shifts." Also, the number of hours spent depends on the owner's preferences, such as operating the franchise independently, or hiring a manager to oversee the stores day-to-day affairs (Quizno's Homepage 2009).

Quizno's has many good qualities as a company, three of its current strengths are the four dollar Toasty Torpedo, the commercials are very memorable, and Quizno's delivers. The Quizno's four dollar Toasty Torpedo is cheaper than the Subway Five Dollar Footlong. In today's economy everyone is looking for a cheaper lunch and the Toasty Torpedo is the better buy. The Quizno's commercials over the last few years have been very memorable; they contained a memorable message and recently came out with a commercial that is getting a lot of attention. Another strength of Quizno's is its delivery service, Subway and other fast food restaurants have not yet begun delivering, so Quizno's is pioneering the fast food delivery. Another strength that benefits Quizno's is its delivery service. Currently, participating franchises offer the services during typical lunch hours. Unlike Subway, Quizno's delivers personal and catered orders to customers, with a base fee and delivery charge. Choosing the option of group ordering, and the time you would like the order delivered, are also offered. These benefit Quizno's because they have more franchises that provide the delivery service. Also, this helps the company because of the effect the economy has had on fuel prices. Rebecca Steinfort, Quizno's senior vice-president of delivery and catering, explains: "We've seen a great response even though we have not been advertising.

The Quizno's four dollar Toasty Torpedo is also cheaper than the Subway Five Dollar Footlong. For 4 dollars, customers can buy a toasty torpedo sandwich before tax. In comparison, Subway's five dollar footlong costs before tax (Green Eggs Marketing, 2008, para.1-2). Quizno's benefits because the low price of the sandwich can encourage customers to add on to their meals by adding a bag of chips or a soda. Those side items are low priced, and the total cost of the meal will not exceed (Toasty Torpedo, 2008, para.2).

A weakness that Quizno's has right now is that although it has a delivery service it is very poorly advertised. The only way to discover Quizno's delivery service is to visit the website; on the site there is very little information about the service. Customers should be made aware of the delivery opportunities. Another major weakness that Quizno's has is its prices. According to President of Quizno's Subs Greg Macdonald, "Consumers love the sandwiches but found them too expensive" (Marketing Magazine p.3).

The next weakness that Quizno's holds is their advertising approaches. For instance, previous commercial ads seemed a bit tasteless and un-appetizing. One commercial that involved a sponge monkey was raved as disgusting and unnecessary. According to an article from the Commercial Archives titled, "Quiznos Dusts off Baby Bob," Quizno's commercials have had negative ratings and perceptions, despite the ads' popularity. It is reported in the article that, "the ads give the idea that rats are in Quizno's subs," (Adland p 1). Another perception of a Quizno's ads was," Baby Bob just isn't very funny or interesting or anything" (Adland 1). These two commercials involved the shouting sponge monkeys, and the talking baby. As for the most recent commercial advertisement, there is a huge weakness in this add. The commercial focuses on the new four dollar torpedo sub. While the commercial does focus heavily on the sandwich, its sexual suggestions are even heavier. To compete with Subway's five dollar foot long, Quizno's has created the four dollar Toasty Torpedo.

To promote this sandwich, Quizno's has developed a commercial that has been called inappropriate, offensive, and tasteless. There is a talking oven that is having a conversation with a chef. The oven is repeating comments such as "Put it In Me." According to the website onemillionmoms.com, an article titled, "Quizno's is more than 'Toasty'; they are in HOT WATER," reports various mothers who are against the new commercial advertising approach because of its potential affect on television viewers. The article quotes one mother as saying, "I find the homosexual innuendo tasteless, and it only serves to lessen the character of your company. Young children may not see the implication, but teens and adults certainly do"

As for the actual Toasty Torpedo sandwich, the sandwich has been reported as gross, disappointing, and even bland. According to an article titled, "Quiznos' Torpedo vs. Subway's foot long," from the "Orange County News Source," consumers have said "I couldn't believe how bland the sandwich tasted, and how dry the bread was. I was really disappointed" (Luda 2009). The Toasty Torpedo is all reported as looking like a completely different sandwich compared to the one shown on television. It is said that the sandwich does not even look close to what has been shown in the Toasty Torpedo commercial (Orange County News Source p 3). Quizno's has been reported as having another weakness, Quizno's has a malfunctioning issue with the Million Sub Giveaway special. In this, consumers were given the opportunity to share their names and email addresses in exchange for coupons at Quizno's restaurants. Though the giveaway was successful at collecting consumer data, it had a few malfunctions. In the giveaway it was reported that consumers never received their coupons, others could not print the coupons out, some Quizno's franchises even turned the coupons away (Advertising Age 2p).

One big opportunity for Quizno's is to undertake international expansion. Quizno's currently has over 500 restaurants in over 21 countries. If Quizno's opened more restaurants in other countries the company could continue to expand more and reach a larger group of customers.

Currently, Quizno's largest threat is Subway. Subway has launched the five dollar foot long deal on every one of its sandwiches; in contrast, Quizno's only offers its four dollar sub deal on select subs, which are the Toasty Torpedo subs. In addition to the sandwich deals provided by subway, they have also launched a side kick deal. In this, when a consumer buys a five dollar sandwich from subway, they are able to choose from a variety of side orders for only a dollar. The side orders include cookies; apples, and a 20 ounce beverage.

Another big threat to Quizno's right now is the commercials that they are running to promote the Toasty Torpedo. Although it is a memorable commercial, it may cause some problems. The Toasty Torpedo commercial uses many sexual innuendos and potential homosexual suggestions which could potentially cause different groups of customers to develop a negative attitude towards Quizno's. On other hand its competitor Subway, has developed multiple commercial ads that have a catchy jingle that promotes its five dollar foot long subs. This jingle has been reported to be a huge success and has captured the attention of millions.
According to an article from the Review Atlas titled, "Get Tuned up for the Return of Advertising Jingles," "Subway's "Five Dollar Foot-Long" commercial contains three key ingredients of a successful jingle. It's catchy, it's concise and it tells consumers something about the company you want them to know." (Review Atlas p, 20). The threats that Subway presents to Quizno's are immense and appear to be unbeatable. Therefore, it is essential for Quizno's to continue to compete in the race as a leading sandwich provider

Using primarily a focus group to gain an in-depth look at Quizno's, there was a vast amount of information. In addition to a focus group, the observation method was used to substantiate the findings that would come from the focus group. On a Wednesday, at approximately 12:40pm, The Quizno's restaurant was packed with costumers. There were consumers in every seat, and there was a line that stretched to the back of the restaurant. In this observation, the consumers who were seated were all eating in groups. Most of the consumers were dressed in collared shirts and neatly pressed dress pants. It appeared that everyone was on a lunch break. All of the customers purchased a sub that was toasted, and oozing with cheese. However, there was one female customer who was eating a salad, and appeared to be quite pleased. All of the consumers had a fountain beverage along with a bag of potato chips. As for the environment in the restaurant, it was somewhat noisy and crowded. In addition, the weather outside was unpleasant because of the rainfall. However, this did not stop the consumers from ordering a Quizno's meal. Each consumer patiently waited for their meals, however, they did not appear pleased with the service. It seemed as if the workers were moving too slow, according to the consumer's facial expressions. Also during the observation, the demographics of the consumers were obvious, including, gender, race, and age. During the lunch hour, there were more men than woman throughout the entire restaurant, and it was documented that approximately 95 percent of the consumers were Caucasian. The other 5 percent were of other races that ranged from African American, Asian, and Hispanic. The general age range was 25-45.
Though the observation method was used, the primary research method was the focus group. The focus group consisted of eight individuals; 5 of them were actually eating and enjoying a Quizno's meal, and 2 two were in the restaurant with a friend who was waiting in line for a Quizno's sub. The consumers all agreed to participate in the focus group; they all were delighted to do so. The age range of the focus group was 19 to 45. The focus group members were Caucasian-Americans. The majority of the focus group members were white collar workers who had decided to eat at Quizno's for their lunch breaks. The other half was Towson University students. The members were asked over 30 questions, including demographics, favorite Quizno's commercials, favorite Quizno's items, and least favorites items. The questions were designed to understand the underlying feelings that consumers had towards the suggestive messages displayed in Quizno's advertisements. However, in regards to asking questions relevant to said advertisements, there was a variety of answers.

Within the focus group, the majority of them replied "I just fast forward past the commercials on my TIVO, (An interactive television application), so I have never even seen a Quizno's commercial." Others expressed which commercials stood out to them the most, and which commercials were ineffective and offensive. The replies ranged from "the commercials were funny;" to "the Quizno's commercials are gross;" to "I've never seen any of their commercials to be honest," to "the commercials made me hungry for subway." One focus group member even replied, "Quizno's is the McDonald's of subs, it's sickening, they both are horrible!" Each question was directed to each member and each member gave an equal response. From this focus group, the underlying feelings, opinions, and emotions about Quizno's were discovered, as well as their feelings about Subway. Consumers expressed personal preferences in regards to Quizno's commercial advertising, and provided suggestions on how to improve it. The ultimate findings from this focus group was the low effectiveness of Quizno's advertising approaches; primarily its television commercials.

The reason for using the focus group was to gain in-depth and personal information from actual Quizno's costumers. Another reason for using this approach was to gain actual responses to recognize the short comings of the Toasty Torpedo television commercial, and other advertising approaches. This approach was also effective because it allowed personal interactions with costumers; the focus group also allowed consumers to feel comfortable and willing to open up. A survey was not used in the research because it would not exhibit the truthful feelings that consumers had toward Quizno's. In a focus group, a firsthand response would be given truthfully and openly.

A personal interview was not used in this research because there are so many differing opinions in regards to Quizno's and its commercial ads. A focus group would display the varying opinions on a more detail and emotional level. Ultimately, the interview would limit the results to one perspective, compared to a focus group. Also, the results from a personal interview would be biased and lack a multi-dimensional response. The focus group has positively affected the Marketing campaign, primarily by providing insight of why Quizno's past commercials were ineffective. The results from the focus group will demonstrate the specific elements that can assist in the effort to gain more customers, while regaining lost customers through enhanced advertising strategies.

The primary target audience that is best for Quizno's to appeal to is the middle class white collar segment. The middle class is in fact the largest class in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. The middle class is largely comprised of married individuals with children, college students, and college grads. The Pew Research Center reports that 68 percent of middle class members are homeowners. It is also reported that a large amount of middle class member eat out several times a week; this audience is describe as healthy individuals as well. Moreover, the middle class is described on a geographic level as well. In this report, most middle class individuals reside in suburban and rural areas. Approximately 54 percent of middle class members reside in suburban areas, compared to the 40 percent that live in urban areas. According to the Social Analysis and Reference Groups, the middle class tends to value education, news, homeownership, and stability (Social Analysis p. 13). According to Dr. L Robert Khols, the director of International Programs at San Francisco State University, the middle class American also values equality, wealth, newness, innovations, success, and time. (Kohls, p.3-10). The middle class target audience has a variety of demographics, geographic, and behavioristic elements; however, the more affluent segments of the middle class are crucial to finding the perfect target market for Quizno's.

The 18-24 year-olds represent 26.1 million of the United States population, with the highest numbers of this demographic living in the Northeast. Whites still have the highest population of citizens at 62 percent. Hispanics are second at 16 percent, Blacks are third at 13 percent, and Asians are last at 5 percent. Less than 3 percent of this age group lives at home with their parents either in school full time or not in school at all. In the U.S. 62 percent of this population have a high school diploma with some college education, while 16 percent have no high school diploma or degree. Fifty-five percent are working middle to low-income full-time jobs, with personal earnings amounting to 60,000 dollars. A little over half of the individuals in this age group have never been married, and currently have no children. According to the Journal of Advertising Research, "this generation of citizens are idealistic, socially conscious, individualistic, anti-corporate, speak their minds and dress as they please." (Kapner, 1997). It is because of these reason that this particular segment is difficult to advertise to. They do not succumb to the usual advertising methods that have proven to be successful for other age groups (Wolburg, 2001). Those in this age group that are college students are also important because of the impact they have in the market. In numbers they can influence others because of how quickly they adopt new products, and how quickly they develop brand loyalties that will last long into adulthood (2001).

This target market consists of middle class males who are between the ages of 25 and 39. The salaries of this market ranges from 35,000 to 50,000 dollars a year. They are fresh in their careers; mostly in good health and value time as they do money. Most of the individuals in this market area are in a managerial position (Lexis-Nexis, Valios). To further support this is an article from Restaurants and Institutions. The article reads, "Middle-class consumers are most likely to say that casual-dining restaurants are their primary dining-out choices." This market has also been reported to eat at restaurants that reflect their social status. The Restaurant and Institutions site article reads, "Middle-class consumers are more likely than lower-middle-class or upper-middle-class consumers to say that their restaurant choices reflect their social status." The article says that these middle class individuals have a range of household incomes starting at 35,000 dollars a year. To also illustrate this target markets value of time is the Restaurant and Institutions article, which reads that most individuals in this middle class market will more than likely not wait more than thirty minutes for a meal; nor will they wait that amount of time to be seated at any restaurant; "nearly one-third of these consumers purchase lunch on weekdays, the members of this demographic also feel time-pressed" (Hume, Restaurants and Institutions, 2008 p5). This target market appears to value time, work, money, and quick-meals. This group is a great market because of the large amount of members who dine out frequently during the week.

This suggested target market mostly comprises of males who are white collared workers between the ages of 41 and 65; they are mostly married with children and typically live in suburban areas, however work in urban areas. This segmented group is a good target market due to its growing numbers in corporate work fields. Therefore, since the amount of white collar workers has increased, so have the amounts of lunch breaks that can be catered to by Quizno's. According to a report from the United States General Accounting Office, the workforce is increasing with elderly workers. In this was reported a 19 percent increase in white collar workers who are between the ages of 55 and 77. These numbers were calculated for the year of 2008 (GAO projections 2008). The report also illustrates the median salaries of white collar workers who are between 55 and 74. More specifically, the report says that a large amount of white collar workers, between 55 and 64, are in executive or administrative positions, earning over 50,000 dollars a year. This is one target market that Quizno's should consider due to its growing size. Another report from the Pew Research Center illustrates, in a series of charts that the percentage of males, who are between the ages of 40 and 60, tend to be in professional or executive positions. The report describes most of these individuals as being married with an average of two children; about 45 percent of these individuals have a ranging salary of 50,000 to 100,000 (Pew Research Center, p.68. 2009). The reason this market may be a great choice is due to the available financial resources that these individuals hold. Another major reason for this target market choice is due to TIVO. From the results of the focus group that was conducted, the older members of the group admitted to fast forwarding through commercials. With the TIVO feature, commercial spots are being missed and un-heard by older middle class workers. In the focus group, most of the older members had never even seen a Quizno's commercial; yet, they are familiar with the restaurant but not its specials. The goal is to reach out to the more affluent middle class male workers because they are able to afford commercial filtered television; thus, decreasing the amount of commercial viewership. Therefore, it is necessary to heavily target this market in a new and innovative manner. To support this is Stephen Baker, from Business Week, who reports, "Approximately 6.5 million TiVo-like devices are currently in use in the U.S. And 70% of them are routinely used for commercial avoidance; the devices are threatening to bring the -billion-a-year TV advertising business to its knees" (Business Week, p 1). Therefore, the Elder market segment will be the main focus for the enhanced Quizno's marketing strategy.

Not only is advertising necessary for Quizno's, more attractive and tighter advertisements are needed. Subway is Quizno's leading competitor and is having much success. Subway has advertisements that range from jingles, to funny skits, to special meal deals. In contrast, Quizno's is the second leading sub dealer; therefore, it is necessary for Quizno's to keep up with Subway on a constant basis. It is important for Quizno's to target its consumers through a combination of advertising forms. These forms include image advertising, and national advertising,. With image advertising, Quizno's will have the opportunity to transform its image as the second leading sub provider. According to an article from the Microsoft Corporation titled "Advertising," image advertising gives a product a personality that is unique, appealing, and appropriate so that the consumer will want to choose it over similar products that might fulfill the same need" (Microsoft 2009 p. 9). National Advertising is absolutely necessary for Quizno's to continue with so that consumers are continuously reminded of Quizno's; thus, fervently competing with Subways advertising approaches. The significance of this national advertising approach involves informing the nation about Quizno's its image, and its products on a continuous basis. The purpose for this continued national advertising approach is to developing loyal consumers; thus, having them choose Quizno's over its competitors. According to the Microsoft Corporation article, "national advertising tries to build consumer loyalty to a product or service." (Microsoft 2009 p. 2). Gaining loyal customers is the objective in using the national advertising approach.

Quizno's Sandwich Company

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What Is Amazon?

Amazon is a multinational electronic commerce corporation, but you probably know it as a giant bookstore on the Internet. Selling lots of stuff besides books, but most people know Amazon best as a book retailer.

Amazon.com is America's largest and most successful online retailer. Amazon does three times as much business as their closest competitor in terms of online retail business, Staples. Amazon (which can be found online at the URL Amazon.com) sells everything from books and music to movies, eBook readers, clothes, furniture, toys, and even food items.

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History of Amazon

Businessman Jeff Bezos founded of the company in 1994--when dinosaurs roamed the Internet. When Bezos created the company it was called Cadabra--the latter half of the classic magic word "Abra-cadabra." Bezos quickly realized that people thought the business was called "cadaver" (another word for "dead body") and he soon changed it to Amazon.

Why did Bezos pick the name "Amazon?"

A few different reasons. First of all, Amazon starts with "A", placing it near the beginning of any alphabetical list. Another reason Bezos chose "Amazon" for his online retailer is because the Amazon river is the largest in the world. Lending Bezos' company a very "big" sound.

Amazon started out as a small online bookstore. Bezos eventually diversified Amazon to include music downloads, eBooks, and the entire product line you find today at Amazon.com. Amazon now operates all over the world, with companion websites dotted across Europe and Asia. Amazon is now the most popular music and book retailer in the UK, and ranks third in Asia as well.

Amazon Coupons

The best thing about buying books and stuff from Amazon is the big variety of coupons available online. Even though Amazon's regular prices are competitive with other book retailers, using any of the massive number of Amazon coupons to be found on the Web drops the price even more.

There's always a free shipping coupon or discount code available with a simple Google search. If you want to dig a little deeper, check out TechBargains.com or the classic third party coupon site RetailMeNot.com. TechBargains has over two dozen different coupons for Amazon.com at any given time, including free "super saver" shipping (on your order over ) and large "percent off" deals on select items and brands. RetailMeNot tends to have more specialized Amazon coupons than TechBargains, so if you're in the market for a particular book or CD, check them out first.

According to their website, Amazon's vision is "to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online." As Amazon's product line swells and they corner more markets around the world, they are coming closer and closer to reaching that goal.

What Is Amazon?

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Saturday, August 27, 2011

How Retail Marketers Can Easily Reach New Customers

The best way for retailers to reach customers outside of their core target segment depends on their budget. For a small retailer (non franchise), the best way to go is with postcards that have a coupon printed on them. However, before blindly sending out postcards, the retailer needs to know the demographics and psychographics of the new target market they want to reach and that this new market can be profitable. For example, if you are a retailer that sells video games, you want your target market to be males within maybe 5-10 miles of your store who are aged 12 - 35. You do not want to send postcards to women who are senior citizens. This sounds like common sense but it amazes me how many businesses waste their money marketing to the wrong target markets.

To discover potential new markets to target, spend time researching who has purchased from you in the past. Look for patterns. When doing this research you may find that a group you never considered to be your core target market is actually a sizable percentage of your sales. Using the video game retail store example, you may find by studying your past sales data that it is women aged 18-40 buying 35% of your games because they are buying games for their husbands, boyfriends, children, cousins, etc. Therefore, you would want to make a custom message for this market saying buy great video game gifts for the men in your life and use this 10% off coupon with you next purchase.

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For larger retailers and chains, you need to do the same thing-- research who has purchased from you in the past and look for segments that make up sizable percentages of your sales. Then, create custom sales messages to advertise to those segments via Internet marketing, social media, postcards, magazine advertising to the publications the segment reads, advertise on cable TV shows the segment watches, etc. The key is you need to have a custom sales message for each niche market (segment). Do not make the mistake of trying to create a one size fits all marketing message as different segments buy for different reasons and they have different hot buttons.

How Retail Marketers Can Easily Reach New Customers

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Tips To Help You Get Your Designer Jeans For Less

Many people would love to be wearing designer jeans and showing off their style. The problem that many have is that getting multiple pairs of designer jeans can be a very expensive. If you want to still get some of these jeans but don't want to pay the price, there are a few tips that you can follow to help you save money.

Start off by learning how to use the internet to look for the latest coupons or discounts on your preferred type of designer jeans. Sometimes there are coupon codes that you can use for a limited time that will give you a certain dollar amount off or a percentage discount. When you find these, it's the best time to buy saving quite a bit of money. Always do your best to look for these.

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You might have to buy your designer jeans during the off season. In the middle of the hottest part of summer typically is when products like jeans will be a bit cheaper as the demand isn't as high. You might not find as big of a selection, but the prices are much less expensive when shopping at this time. If you are a deal hunter buy when no one else is buying. That is the key to getting a deal on a great pair of jeans.

Certain companies will give you discounts for becoming Facebook friends or Twitter followers. The discount might be provided when you become friends with them or you might find discounts randomly for special online offers. This is a very easy way of getting coupons and discounts to save money on designer jeans.

One place to look is online auctions. There are many people who may have grown out of their designer jeans that are still in practically new condition. They are selling them because they can't wear them at much lower prices than you would ever find in a store. You can find some great deals with practically brand new jeans through auctions.

Also be sure that you check the overstocked retailer online or in stores in your area. Certain styles are available at these places for many times near half the original price. Discounts can be found easily. I can say that I have bought most of my jeans this way and no one even knows that it was purchased for at deep discounted prices.

If you follow these tips, you will find designer jeans that you love without having to pay the higher prices you might expect.

Tips To Help You Get Your Designer Jeans For Less

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Effects of Promotional Tools

Marketing and advertising can take on many forms, as businesses try to constantly come up with ingenious ways to attract the typical consumer. Particularly with companies selling products of high demand, there is usually an abundance of other businesses in existence, therefore making for a very competitive market. It is because of this that many businesses take to marketing schemes such as promotional offers.

The use of a promotional offer is to first attract the eye of the beholder. This offer is the door opener for a business to then exploit themselves and the business products and services in which they are offering. Promotional offers come in many forms including but not limited to coupons and coupon codes, free gifts and discounted prices.

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Coupons and Coupon Codes:

Coupons have served the advertising field for many years, well before the invention and enhancement of modern day technology. It is an old, yet very effective tool toward attracting potential consumers and is perhaps more widely used than any other form of promotion. Coupons come in many forms as well, as with clippings from a magazine, newspaper or circular of some sort, with offers of percentages and fixed dollar amounts off of a particular product or service. The internet has made the use of coupons more easily accessible as well, with printable coupons or immediate coupons to be used during one's purchase.

The predecessor to the coupon-the coupon code, is primarily used over the internet. The coupon code works in similar fashion as the typical coupon, where the approach is slightly different. Often coupon codes can be applied instantly toward one's purchase of some goods for a percentage or dollar amount off of their total purchase, without the use and waste of paper.

Free Gifts:

Many businesses looking to develop good consumer relations will offer free gifts to consumers in a variety of ways. Dome may offer a free gift just for checking out a businesses products or website, with no obligation to buy, while others may require participation of some sort in order to receive their free gift. Some businesses will also offer a free gift in addition to one's purchase to establish loyal and returning consumers.

Discounted Prices:

Perhaps a derivative of the coupon and coupon codes, discounted prices are often used to attract consumers through an illustration of showing them just how much they may save on their purchase relative to the retail value. This is a good marketing scheme as advertisers understand that the average consumer is always looking for a deal.

In whatever venue promotional items are used, it is the main objective of the merchant to attract potential and returning consumers to their business to maintain a thriving company.

Effects of Promotional Tools

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Friday, August 26, 2011

A Guide to Discount RV Rentals

RVs are a unique way to travel with no hotels or crowded airports. It's just you, America's highways, and anything you want to see. Owning an RV, however, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A cheaper alternative is to rent an RV. This is even a cost-effective way to sample different RVs before purchasing one of your own.

But renting an RV can still be expensive. Many companies charge a flat day rate on top of fees for additional miles. Plus there's insurance, supplies, and a security deposit that is often not refunded in full, if at all.

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Fortunately, there are ways to reduce the cost of renting an RV. One of the simplest ways is to rent an RV during the off-season. The weather may not be as warm, but you will probably save hundreds of dollars. Rental agencies offer discounts up to 70-percent during the off-season. Plus, you will travel without a swarm of other tourists.

Many Web sites also provide discount RV rental coupons. Search around to find a deal.

The most popularly rented RV is the class-C motor home. It can sleep six to nine people and has a modern kitchen. If you can go for a smaller motor home, maybe even one that's a little more rustic, you will be sure to save money. Don't go for the TV and DVD player. Also, comparison-price with rental agencies outside major cities. You may get a cheaper price.

One simple way to get a discount RV rental is to buy your time in bulk. You get a cheaper rate when you travel for more days. Many RV rental agencies also charge less the sooner you book your RV. So plan ahead!

If you plan on renting an RV frequently or stopping at lots of campgrounds, it may be cost-effective to join a discount camping club like the Happy Camper RV Club that gives up to a 50-percent discount at many camping sites.

A Guide to Discount RV Rentals

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Subway Franchise Information and Costs

Sandwich shops are everywhere, but very few of these establishments carry reputable brand recognition such as Subway. In 1965, two young men opened a sandwich shop with just a few thousand dollars as investment. Both men hoped to earn enough money from this venture to pay their tuition fees for college. Just like other businesses, the sandwich shop struggled during the first couple of years, but the sales somehow took off after some time. That was when they changed the name of the shop from "Pete's Super Submarines" to "Subway". Subway franchise opportunities were introduced in 1974, and these now rank at the top of almost every franchise service ratings in the market. Subway excels at categories like franchisee satisfaction, best training program, and customer loyalty. As a successfully created niche in the sandwich industry, Subway continues to develop its menu; its fresh and delicious salad selections provide a remarkable share in the company's overall revenue. The owners' mere thousand-dollar initial investment surely paid off very well.

Subway Franchise Information

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As of today, there are about 21,000 Subway franchises in the United States alone, 2,300 locations in Canada, and more than 5,500 in 80 other countries around the world. The parent company does not own any Subway franchises, which means that franchisees no longer compete with the home office for market share or sales. Based on the number of franchisee applications that the company receives each year, Subway proves to be a popular option among aspiring and determined entrepreneurs. All successful franchisee applicants residing in the United States receive two weeks extensive training at Subway's headquarters in Connecticut. Outside the country, training facilities are available in Canada, India, China, Australia, and Germany. Subway franchisees learn operational methodology, basic management skills, as well as business concepts in these training facilities. A Subway franchise acts as a training ground for owners to perfect the role of a sandwich artist. Sixty five percent of all Subway franchise owners manage more than one location, with at least six to ten staff for each unit. If you want additional franchise information, you can get it at the official Subway website.

Continuous Support for Owners of Subway Franchises

All new owners of a franchise receive continuous training. This is inclusive in the franchise fee. The training covers field operation evaluations, monthly newsletters, opening assistance, as well as customer service support. Marketing and promotion plays a very important role in a Subway franchise. Its ad campaigns are truly remarkable and memorable that they become part of the social fabric. When buying a Subway franchise, you take advantage of the co-op advertising program, regional coupon mailing, and national marketing strategies that specifically target customers in a particular location.

Subway Franchise Cost and Fees

All franchise opportunities you find in the market today require an upfront payment to franchisors. Subway is no exception to this fact, but compared to other franchises, the Subway franchise fee is quite reasonable. To buy a franchise location, you need to pay an initial franchise fee of only ,000. The company estimates a total investment that ranges between ,000 and 0,000. Differences in figures are due to the varied real estate prices in different states and countries. You need to have a net worth of at least ,000 and a cash liquidity of ,000 to 0,000. The Subway Corporation offers in-house financing to cover the Subway franchise fee as well as the equipment you need to purchase. Third party financing is also available if you need additional capital for start-up costs.

Subway Franchise Information and Costs

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Fatcow Coupon

In 1998 Fatcow was born, with the idea of making web hosting simple and affordable. They make it even more affordable when customers claim a Fatcow coupon--many are offered on a regular basis varying from thirty-five to fifty percent off the base price of just sixty-six dollars a year for the full plan. The Fatcow policy supports not just cheap, simple web hosting, but also alternative energy and customer service.

The Full Plan

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Fatcow is not a site with confusing technical jargon and pricing methods. They provide two plans: Full and MiniMoo. Hosts get unlimited disk space and bandwidth, mailboxes and SQL databases, and domains. One domain name, website builder, shopping cart and script barn are free. Plus, an SSL-secure server with unlimited sub-users. The current Fatcow coupon takes fifty percent off the full package price, making it a monthly fee of just .67 a month (forty-four dollars a year). The package features in Google AdWords credits, .00 in Yahoo and Bing Search credits, a ShopSite online store, WordPress publishing platform, a free Yellow Pages listing, and in Facebook Ad credits.

MiniMoo

This option was created for those who just want a domain name and email account to get their endeavors started. Hosts have the option to either post a generic "site under construction" or use SiteDelux to build their own web-page. There is a MiniMoo Fatcow coupon offering an email account with a forwarding plan for five dollars a year. MiniMoo is recommended for those just starting a business or who want to use it as a placeholder for multiple domains.

Going Green

Fatcow is not capable of producing wind power themselves; instead, the company purchases Renewable Energy Certificates to offset their energy usage. This reduces the amount of energy on the power grid produced by fossil fuels (the environmental monster), and promotes wind energy. This means all of their customers have green sites too, receiving free down-loadable Green Badges for their sites.

The "Heifercratic Oath"

Astounding Fatcow coupon offers and green incentives are not the only outstanding features of this company. The "Heifercratic Oath" was implemented to ensure 100% customer satisfaction. The MooCrew pledges to call new customers within the first seven days, welcoming them, answer their calls within two minutes every day, and provide phone support based only in North America. They promise to resolve issues when they are brought up (or set a date), maintain friendly, remain knowledgeable, and send out feedback surveys for improving.

Fatcow offers deals on web hosting no one can pass up. All-inclusive (and more) packages start off cheap, and with a Fatcow coupon the prices are breathtaking. Right now, it is only forty-four dollars a year for unlimited domains, disk space, bandwidth, mailboxes, and SQL databases. Not to mention a free website builder, shopping cart and script barn. With the highest rated customer service, most inclusive web hosting and advertising tools, and the cheapest prices out there, Fatcow has quickly become the most popular web hosting site since 1998.

Fatcow Coupon

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Full Cost of Inventory - Exploring Inventory Carrying Costs

For most retailers, wholesalers and distributors, inventory is the largest single asset on your balance sheet. In many ways, your inventory defines who you are, and your strategic position in the marketplace. It defines your customer's needs and their expectations of you. Legions of cost accountants are employed to accurately capture and capitalize all of the direct costs of inventory. The cost of that inventory is the single largest expense item on most every Income Statement.

Most companies evaluate the productivity of their inventories through such yardsticks as inventory turn, gross margin return on investment, gross margin return on square foot and the like. These are all valuable tools in assessing inventory productivity, but they are all limited by the fact that they use inventory at cost as the cost basis in their analysis.

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The true cost of inventory extends far beyond just inventory at cost or the cost of goods sold. The cost of managing and maintaining inventory is a significant expense in its own right, but the true cost of inventory doesn't even stop there. The full cost of inventory, in fact, is actually buried deep within a number of expense items below the gross margin line, almost defying any executive, manager or cost accountant to pull them out, quantify and actually manage them.

Studies of inventory carrying costs have estimated that that these costs are approximately 25% per year as a percentage of average inventory for a typical company. While this information is interesting, it's not particularly useful. In order to manage the cost of carrying inventory it must first be measured.

The generally recognized components of inventory carrying cost include inventory financing charges or the opportunity cost of the inventory investment, inventory insurance and taxes, material handling expenses and warehouse overhead not directly associated with picking and shipping customer orders, inventory control and cycle counting expenses, and inventory shrink, damage and obsolescence.

Let's take a close look at each of these components to better understand how they can be measured and managed.

Inventory financing charges: This may seem easy to calculate, but to measure inventory financing charges accurately is not quite as simple as it might first look. For some companies, working capital financing may be essentially financing inventory, and little else, but for many others it may also be financing accounts receivable. The float between payables and receivables may in fact be partially financing inventory as well. For importers, this may be fairly straight forward to quantify if they are opening Letters of Credit prior to their vendors making shipment from overseas. In this case, the cost of the LC facility may be easily identified as the inventory financing charges. Finally, it's critical to be able to measure what portion of the inventory is being financed externally and what portion is being financed through internal cash flow. For that portion that is being financed from cash flow the opportunity costs of that investment must be measured.

Opportunity costs: When thinking of the opportunity cost associated with the investment in inventory, it's easy to focus strictly on the opportunity cost of dead or under performing inventory. In fact, the opportunity cost relates to the value of the total inventory. If this value were not invested in inventory, what return could be expected if it were invested in something else, such as treasuries, mutual funds, or even a money market account.

Inventory insurance and taxes: These items should be fairly straight forward to quantify as a percentage of average inventory value. And because both insurance and taxes are highly variable with inventory value, any reduction in average inventory value will deliver savings directly to the bottom line, not to mention improving cash flow.

Material handling expenses: Measuring material handling expenses not directly associated with picking and shipping customer orders may be just as tricky. These expenses are made up mostly of wages and benefits, but also include lease payments or depreciation on material handling equipment, depreciation on automation, robotics and systems, as well as miscellaneous expenses for supplies such as pallets, corrugated, UPC labeling materials and the like.

Warehouse overhead: The quickest way to measure this is to split the total expenses for rent, utilities, repairs and maintenance, and property taxes by the percentage of the building associated with processing customer orders, picking and shipping, and that portion of the building associated with receiving and storing inventory. While that portion associated with receiving and storage may seem fixed, in fact it quickly becomes much more variable when you consider what you could rent out the space for as contract storage if your inventory wasn't there!

Inventory control and cycle counting: These expenses may also be made up primarily of wages and benefits, but may also include the depreciation or expense on hand-held radio frequency (RF) units, and other related equipment, as well as any miscellaneous expenses directly related to your inventory control team.

Inventory shrink, damage and obsolescence: Capturing and measuring these costs appear to be fairly straight forward at first glance. The costs of shrink, damage and obsolescence are the value of the write- offs taken, or stated in percentage terms, the value of those write-offs over a given period of time divided by the average inventory during that period. This assumes, however, that all write-offs were taken on a timely basis throughout the year. Were cycle counts done on a regular basis? Was everything counted on a scheduled basis, was that schedule followed, and were higher velocity items counted more frequently? Were written off on a timely basis? Was damaged and obsolete inventory written off in the current period allowed to accumulate during prior periods. Conversely, were write-offs deferred during the current period, resulting in a build up of damaged and obsolete inventory that will have to be written off in a future period. Experience has taught us that in some extreme cases these write-offs are avoided for years!

To determine your inventory carrying cost these components are rolled up on an annualized basis and stated as a percentage of your annual average inventory. You can now see whether the 25% annual carrying cost estimate closely reflects your business, or that your business has particular characteristics that result in a significantly different percentage.

Just as it's not prudent to assume that your carrying cost percentage will mirror a composite average of many companies, it's not appropriate to assume that every item in your inventory has the same carrying cost percentage. Certainly, carrying costs can differ within your company by distribution center (if you have more than one DC), product line, category, sub-category or even item. Carrying costs can differ for high volume, high velocity "A" items, slower turning or complementary "B" items, or slow turning "C" items. Large, bulky items may have a significantly different carrying cost than smaller items that take up much less space per inventory dollar. Understanding the varying carrying costs within your inventory helps you identify where the opportunities for the greatest savings might be.

Once the full costs of inventory have been measured and quantified, those costs can be evaluated and managed. And what becomes immediately apparent is not just the cost of the inventory that is essential to the business, but the cost of the inventory that is not essential, that is excess, dead or under performing, and what a financial drag this inventory is on the company.

Reducing unneeded inventory, whether tightening up stocks of frontline, essential inventory, or liquidating dead or under-performing inventory has the benefit of freeing up capital for other uses and reducing costs directly variable with inventory levels, and also provides you with the opportunity to re-assess both mixed and fixed costs to identify other potential cost savings. When you reduce inventory, not only are you freeing up invested capital, but you are also creating opportunities to reduce expenses, improve profitability, and actually increase cash flow!

The Full Cost of Inventory - Exploring Inventory Carrying Costs

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How to Become a Coupon Mom

Saving money is anyone's game, and if you're a Mom of 2, 5, or 6, I wanted to give you a great list of how you can save a ton of money on your next purchase. I don't care if you're going to shop at the grocery store, or you're going to shop retail, implement these strategies, and you will be sure to save!

Know what you want to buy: Let's say that you want to buy a new LCD TV. First, do the research, and know what you want to buy. You will then want to compare the prices online with a price comparison service. You will want to make sure that you're going to get the best price, and this always online.

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Look for cash back: Before you even buy from the store, sign up with a cash back site, such as Fatwallet, or even Bank of America's AddItUp. When you shop through them, they will give you a certain percentage back. It's a great way to get 1%+ back on your purchase just for clicking a link!

Coupon search: Next, you will want to search for a coupon code online. See how much you can save on top of what you're buying. There are always special deals out there if you search hard enough. Check eBay as well to see if there's a deal.

Cash back credit card: The last step that you want to take is by getting a cash back credit card. This way, you can save even more! Cash back cards will give you 1% and more back just for using the card. Pay it off in full at the end of the month, and save a ton.

This is the 4 step list, and as you can see, you can save a load of money. Test these tips out, and see how much you can save!

How to Become a Coupon Mom

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Hostgator Provide Shared Web Hosting

Hostgator hosting experiences innovative deduction when compared to others. This is the easiest web hosting business concern in the market. In this host there are various types of schemes or plans with some features in doing Hostgator hosting.They also offers different kinds of Hostgator coupons to their valued customers. Most users are willing to get their Hostgator coupon around US and they also offering Hostgator discount coupons. This is the proper result for anyone who is also.facing to originate a moderate up-to-date business sector or set as a private web site?. The cost factor is also a major issue in selecting the easiest services. Some of the hosting companies are very low in their service that may direct to a trouble when opening our sites in online.

While taking the better and cheap price net hosting services we too had an check in search engines like Google or yahoo to had a considerations. Basic of all it is necessary to take search on the path record of the internet hosting service provider. It is one of the incredibly scheme in receiving the host coupons with the current movement in the market. By visiting to the cheapest shop we can select our hosting account to establish our own or company internet site in online.They are cooling off their hosts by utilizing nature wind power. They are real friendly and preserve their client-customer relationship very well.

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The Hostgator coupons rendering in a very economic path to the online users., the downplay of the function that they provide plus the quality of some host gator function and other remarkable facts. This will resolve your problems you have fronted before in the field of Hostgator hosting on careful research.

In Conclusion, on our experience they urge you to buy low-cost web hosting from host gator hosting. Purchase cheap hosting clear that you will make better of the best offers definitely.While using the host coupons one must be very careful by checking is the card is legal and not out of date because some cards have a expiry date.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Mobile Coupons: The Marketing of the Future

When it comes time to grow your company, you're going to need to dedicate time, money and energy on marketing. You want to make sure that you are making good use of your time and resources, though. Commercials on television are costly and with DVRs, many people are fast forwarding them. Flyers are costly and you have to distribute them. Why not use a cell phone instead? Mobile advertising companies exist for this very purpose.

Mobile coupons are becoming very popular because everyone has a cell phone. There are many different formats that a phone can accept that make sending a coupon to a phone entirely possible. Best of all, 99% percent of all texts are read, so you know that your message is being delivered, rather than ending up on the ground of a shopping center parking lot.

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All phones can accept SMS mobile messaging. SMS or short message service is the standard text format that you can receive that may or may not include a link to a website. Utilizing this kind of message for your mobile marketing campaign is beneficial because all cell phones can receive it.

In addition to SMS mobile messaging, there is MMS, which is multimedia service, however if it's not a smart phone, the message is pretty much lost. This is why SMS is still the preferred method for spreading the mobile marketing messages.

Think of what mobile coupons could do for your business. If you send out a coupon for a 10% discount, a BOGO or a dollar amount off, they will get it almost instantaneously. This is usually enough to change people's minds and get them into your door. Restaurants benefit tremendously from this, especially. Competition is fierce and discounts speak louder than anything else.

Mobile advertising companies can help you to create the perfect platform and campaign. Whether it's helping you to get a mailing list of people, a message to send out or the best way to send it, that's what these companies specialize in. Since everyone is walking around with a cell phone anyways, it only makes sense that this is the primary way to advertise to them. The message goes out immediately. Research shows that many people read their texts within two hours of being sent out. This means that if you send a message in the morning, you could be receiving business from it by the end of the day.

Your SMS mobile messaging campaign can work very simply. You can either have them reference the ad, show it to you on the phone or give you a special keyword in order to get the detail on the coupon. Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media sites are helping companies to utilize mobile coupons as a way of bringing in business, too. It's about getting the word out there and these sites can help build your customer lists, too. Social media is free, so that means free exposure to your brand, too.

There are plenty of ways to market, but are you really getting your message out there? You may never know. With mobile marketing, however, you can know right away by the number of people bringing in their mobile coupons to redeem for free stuff, discounts or anything else that you choose. There's no better way to market to your customer base because everyone has a cell phone. Don't rely on commercials and billboards - they take up too much money and just aren't as effective.

Mobile Coupons: The Marketing of the Future

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The Bond Market and How You Can Benefit

In the investment world, there are two words we hear more than any others--stocks and bonds. While each can offer their own advantages and disadvantages, both should be included in your portfolio. As a general rule, stocks have outperformed bonds since 1926; returning 10.4 percent against government bonds' 5.4 percent showing.

However, when stocks go bad--and they will--bonds will always be there for you. Over short periods of time (like the bear market of 2000 to 2002) bonds easily outpaced the growth of stocks. However the world of bonds can be a confusing one, so let's learn a little more about them.

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Why to get fond of bonds

The first word in smart investing is "diversification". That means you own a good mix of volatile stocks and steady bonds in your portfolio. When one takes a hit, the other will usually hold steady.

Whereas stocks will only give you liquid results when you sell, bonds pay interest regularly, making them an attractive investment choice for retirees looking for regular income.

Bonds are also some of the some of the safest investment choices you can make, second only to cash. U.S. Treasuries offer a risk-free vehicle of stashing funds for a limited amount of time, and you'll usually see modest gains while you're at it.

Also, many bonds provide income that's tax-free. That's a good thing, even though most of these pay a lower yield than what you might get from taxable bonds.

Bonds at work

When you purchase a bond, you're basically lending money to a corporation or the government so they can go about their everyday business or complete certain projects. In return, they pay you interest annually and then give back what you've invested once the bond "matures", meaning its term ends.

Now for a little lingo. A bond's "par value" is the price paid for it when it was new. A "coupon", is what the bond pays annually in interest. For example, a ,000 bond paying 8 percent a year would have a coupon of 0. If you don't buy a bond new, you'll be purchasing from another person in the "secondary" market, and you'll pay the current market price on the bond (which fluctuates daily) though still receiving the same coupon. A bond's "total return" is all the money you will earn off of the bond. That includes the annual interest along with its loss or gain in the market.

Bountiful Bonds

There are a ton of bonds to choose from, but the safest choice is a U.S. Treasury. Interest and payments on these are guaranteed by the "full faith and credit" of the United States Government.

Within Treasuries, there are several bonds to choose from, all requiring different investment commitments, terms, and interest rates.

You can also choose from mortgage-backed bonds, which can yield around 1 percent more than Treasury bonds with a typical ,000 investment. Then there are corporate bonds. Most of these are issued in ,000 denominations and have terms ranging form one to 20 years, or even a few weeks to 100 years. The values of corporate bonds depend on the credit of the company you're bonding. Like everything else, it's a risk-reward proposition when selecting a corporate bond.

Finally, you can also purchase municipal bonds in state and local governments and agencies. These are usually available in denominations starting at ,000, with terms of 30 to 40 years. The great thing about municipal bonds is that your interest returns are typically exempt from most federal, state, and local taxes.

Risk-Reward

Though bonds are typically less volatile than stocks, there are still risks. Interest payments can be worn by inflation. If interest rates rise, bond prices will fall. Also, some bond issuers reserve the right to "call" back bonds before term. If this happens, you'll only get "par value" on the buy back, though "callable" bonds offer higher interest returns than noncallable bonds. Also, if a corporation you have bonded goes belly-up, say goodbye to your money. Finally, bonds, as with most investments, are at the mercy of the ups and downs of the everyday market. Just remember, the longer before your bond matures, the more unpredictable it becomes.

The Bond Market and How You Can Benefit

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