That Payday Punch

Top 10 Principles of Great Sales Messaging by Michael Cannon

Sales Messaging – the stated reasons you give people to buy from your firm – is the foundation on which all your sales and marketing efforts rest. Sadly, most companies lack a definition for their sales messaging, let alone a methodology for developing and deploying it. The results are millions of dollars in lost revenue, higher sales costs and missed bonuses.

Sales messaging is the foundation for all your sales and marketing efforts

Here is your chance to break from the pack and enhance your competitive advantage. Use these top 10 principles to create a definition for great sales messaging that will enable your company to win more orders, increase market share and improve margins.

1. Specific to One Offering. Sales messaging is about selling one offering –a complete product or service. If you sell a number of products and services bundled together, then you can think of this as one offering. If the products or services are sold on a standalone basis, then you must have separate sales messaging for each offering.

2. Target Each Buyer. There are a number of buyer types to consider, including the prospect, customer, channel partner, industry analyst and investor. There are also buyer roles like User, Technical and Financial. It’s important to identify buyers by offering, by title and by role so that the sales messaging resonates with each buyer’s interests and perspective.

3. Answer Buyer’s Primary Buying Questions. Each buyer has different buying questions. For example: Prospects are asking, “Why should I buy your solution rather than a competitive option?” Customers are asking, “Why should I keep buying from you?” Channel Partners are asking, “Why should I distribute your product or service?” Each buyer’s questions are different and thus require tailored answers.

4. Support the Product and Sales Cycle. In the early stages of a product life cycle, the most important buyer question to answer is “Why should I change what I currently do and buy a product or service like this?” The question has nothing to do with your company. It’s about educating the buyer on why they should make a change. The primary goal is to create a buying event.

In the later stages of the product life cycle, when market demand is established, the primary buying question shifts to “Why should I buy your solution rather than a competitive option?” It’s about competitive differentiation and educating the buyer on why they should buy your offering. The primary goal is to create an order for your company.

Great sales messaging supports each phase of the sales cycle

Like the product life cycle, the sales cycle has distinct phases. For example, let’s say you’re selling an early stage product. At the beginning of the sales cycle, the primary buying question to answer is “Why should I meet with you?” Once you have a meeting, the next phase in the sales cycle is answering, “Why should I change what I currently do and buy a product or service like this?” The final phase of the sales cycle is then answering, “Why should I buy your solution rather than a competitive option?” Great sales messaging supports each phase in both the product life cycle and sales cycle.

5. Determine the Key Differentiation Factors. There are 5 important differentiation points including Time, Money, Risk, Strategic, and Personal. The more of these differentiation points you appeal to, the more likely you are to attract and create buyers.

6. Apply the Black and White Factor. Numerous studies conclude that the brain comprehends best when presented with clear contrast between opposites. Statements like “We are one of the leading…” is not as compelling as “We are the leader in…” Use lots of sharply contrasting adjectives like Only, Fastest, Easiest, Best, etc. to create powerful sales messaging.

7. Test Against the Me Too Factor. In order to have truly effective sales messaging, especially for competitive differentiation, no other company should be able to make the same claims that you do. The buyer must perceive that your company is different from all the other competitive options and vendors.

8. Organize into Three Points. People remember things best when they are presented in groups of three. The brain works this way, so optimize your sales messaging for maximum effectiveness by incorporating this important principle.

9. Summarize on One Page. The answer to each buying question must be simplified to a one-page format for a few of reasons. Your sales reps cannot remember and articulate more than this and your buyers surely will not. In order to be effective, sales messaging must be delivered to the buyer in digestible amounts.

10. Provide Proof Points. Most buyers consider your sales messaging to be claims. To add more credibility to your key points, you must provide lots of evidence that your claims are true. The more evidence you have, the more believable your claims. The best way to validate that your claims and evidence are true is to use proof points such as customer testimonials, case studies, etc. The second best proof points include third-party organizations like International Organization for Standardization or Gartner Group, etc. The next best proof points are a demonstration or proof-of-concept.

Great sales messaging gives your company the foundation on which to create more meetings, buying events and orders for each of the products and services that you offer. Since most companies do not know what sales messaging is, and you do, you have a tremendous opportunity right now to gain a competitive advantage. This advantage has been proven to increase sales, reduce costs and improve margins. To learn more about how to develop and deploy great sales messaging go to: http://www.silverbulletgroup.com/training.shtml.

About the Author Michael Cannon is an internationally renowned sales expert, best selling author and a dynamic speaker. He is CEO of the Silver Bullet Group and creator of the hugely successful Silver Bullet Sales Messaging System. For more information, visit www.silverbulletgroup.com or call 925 930 9436.

© Copyright 2005 by the Silver Bullet Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If you want to kick off a new online holiday or event, you’ll
need to do it with a Big Bang. Make your entrance, and then keep
the momentum going by cattle-driving traffic and human interest
to the source. Yes, cattle-driving! You need to climb on that
imaginary horse and start corralling people in. Everyone on the
web is highly distracted, even your best buddies. Help them
notice you, remember you, and get your name out into mass
circulation. Make it fun, and don’t forget to have fun yourself.
People are attracted to others who seem to be having fun.

In online event planning, your two best friends are your social
network of humans and the search engines. You can’t possibly
pull this thing off unless both are wound into the plan – and it
should be pretty clear why. If you stick with search engine
tricks alone, you’ll find that your website begins to pull some
rank on Google because you’ve driven those search words via the
major marketing generation methods… but there’s an absence of
life at the point of contact. That’s no good.

If you concentrate solely on your human network but fail to tap
the engine power, you’ll get a small group of excited parties
all sitting in a closed circle and blinking at each other. I
guess small and intimate isn’t terrible, but we’re talking about
an online event here and that phrase connotes BIG. So, use
search engine optimization AND word of mouth to spread it far
and wide.

Let’s talk about the ways you can viral-market your internet
promotion and blast it out there in a short period of
time.

1. Article marketing. Article marketing is at the heart
of every great marketing effort. Don’t get me wrong – blogging
is instant entertainment, but if you want credibility, then
write potent, info-rich articles or have someone write them for
you. Your articles are going to get picked up and added to other
people’s websites, so you’ll want to mention the event name and
the URL to the event website in each one that you write for your
promotional effort. Submit your article to as many article
directories as possible but beware the No Advertising Rule! If
these guys catch you being too promotional your article will get
the shaft and there goes your big article marketing Event Master
Blaster Plan. Email me if you need a jumping point for your
article marketing campaign: Dina/AT/Wordfeeder.com.

2. Networking. Don’t even attempt online event planning
unless you already have a solid online network of marketing
colleagues in place. Your friends are the ones who already love
you, admire you, will listen to what you say and join in for the
group project. Very few “random finds” on the web will just
catch wind of your Pied Piper event promotion tune and start
following along (but when they do, it’s really cool). You’ll
want your network topic to be themed around your event. So, if
yours is a Kids’ Artwork Show with a portion of the proceeds
going to a children’s hospital, then your network should ideally
be for work-at-home moms and parents. DON’T promote your event
on a network of unrelated subjectmatter. That’s a great way to
drive people away completely!

3. Landing page and email drip campaign. Your landing
page should be accessible from your articles and other
“outreaching” content vehicles. When your reader clicks the
link, he should be “hard sold” on why this is going to be
fantastic, what’s in it for him, and compelled to drop his name
in the box. Your email subscriber base should continue to grow
throughout the event’s developments. Use it as a megaphone to
‘rally the team’, send updates, and guide others to help spread
the word and click the links to your blog, articles, ebooks and
other web traffic helpers. Frequently tell the team what they’ll
get out of this. Offer them gifts. Without an incentive, nobody
will want to be your groupie and I for one wouldn’t blame them
in the least.

4. Blogging. Blogs get indexed quickly! If you want your
mass event to power up the Google ladder, then choose a blog
hosting company that will “help you along.” TypePad has been
working well for me. Fill your blog with categorized keywords
and turn your “major search term” (the name of your holiday)
into something that will ring a bell and prompt folks to start
typing into the Google box out of sheer curiosity. Your blog
should contain plenty of links that “point” to your hot pages;
for example, any fun contests or activity pages you plan to run,
your articles. Include your landing page at the end of every
post. This will lend clarification for the confused who just
landed from outer space and also “grab” them for the email list.
Your blog should be highly interactive. Initiate discussions;
blast out participants and supporters by linking to their
websites. Make your blog sticky, and offer plenty of reciprocal
links as incentive to keep watching your show.

5. Web PR. Web PR is needed so those RSS feeds can sound
off your news to the mass communication circuit online. Just
like article marketing and blogs, you’ll want to include the
name of your event frequently (about three times per press
release) so that the search term will get carried along on those
content feeds and bring you higher up on Google. Think of that
web surfer, glazing over your press release and reading a term
like “Web Content Awareness Day” multiple times. It sinks in
somehow. Later, when he stumbles across you again, suddenly he’s
compelled to hunt for more info and he types those words into
the search box. That’s how the momentum keeps building and it’s
a great reason to submit to free PR sites. If you email me, I
can help you out: Dina/AT/Wordfeeder.com

6. E-Books. E-books are super-vitamins for your website’s
page rank. When people open up your info-laden PDF file, that
counts as a page view. Page views give you a push in the search
engine hierarchy. So DO give away free information. Link to your
free downloadable e-book from your blog, from your group emails,
from your network posts and from your “main holiday website”
after you launch it. Encourage friends to pass your e-book along
to keep the page views coming. Links in your e-book should point
back to… guess where? Your blog and your landing page. Are you
getting a feel for how all this content is connected?

7. Your Big Yap. Huh? I’m talking about word of mouth.
Don’t forget to USE YOUR VOICE in all of your event promotion
materials. So many people forget to “speak to their audience” in
their marketing, and every time I see it I want to slap myself
silly. Don’t just plunk a link or a photo down and think people
will click it. There’s so much going on out there, you need to
be heard. I’m not just saying that because I’m a copywriter and
I love words. Clear, simple, compelling communication is
crucial. Don’t be afraid to tell your reader what to do. And
ALWAYS tell him what he gets out of it, always! If you have any
questions about this EMAIL ME: Dina/at/Wordfeeder.com.

As you can see, it takes some knowledge of cohesive internet
marketing to be able to manipulate the search engines while
getting folks excited about your big jamboree.

Want to witness event planning live in action? Please join me
and my marketing friends for the First Annual Web Content
Awareness Day, scheduled to launch on February 9, 2006 at
http://WebContentAwarenessDay.com.

Sneak Peek: Visit the Countdown to Web Content Awareness Day
Blog and learn how you can ride our wave of high web
traffic!

Paste in this link:

http://wordfeeder.typepad.com/web_content_awareness_day/

Copyright 2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

How many times have you dreamt of owning a home and thought it’s impossible, owing to your past follies regarding your finances?

You would be surely surprised to know that there are lenders who cater exclusively to people with bad credit ratings. They are termed as sub prime lenders. They take up loan applications for ADVERSE CREDIT HOME LOANS which would not stand a chance with the top lenders & bankers.

As these lenders are prepared to that extra risk, they try and compensate by charging higher rate of interest. But they still are valuable as they help you in realizing your dream of a home. You can reduce the payout rate after some time when your credit rating improves by refinancing your mortgage.

The best way to get in touch with a sub prime lender is through the internet. A single quote can get you offers from multiple lenders. Saving your time & at the same time offering you multiple options.

Buying a home when you are having a bad credit record has its own unseen benefits like it can help you immensely in improving your credit rating, provided you keep to payment schedules.

Owning a home in financial terms means that you have equity locked up in the form of a property & the value of real estate is always upwardly mobile. That makes having a home of your own a sure shot means to get you secured; additionally you can remortgage your home in future. This extra cash can be then used to completely you debt free.

All in all, ADVERSE CREDIT HOME LOANS are a good proposition with regards to your long term financial needs. As compared doling out, cash in the way of rents.

Before you sign the dotted line, read all the documents with regards to the loan agreement carefully so that you have a clear perspective about all that you have committed to.

Good or bad, credit history is not a problem on your way to a home.

The author is a business writer specializing in finance and credit products and has written authoritative articles on the finance industry. He has done his masters in Business Administration and is currently assisting adverse credit home loans as a finance specialist.
For more information please visit http://www.adverse-credit-home-loans.co.uk

Most consultants are like cab drivers. Cab drivers run the meter. They throw the luggage in the trunk (that’s a $1.00 bag charge). They may or may not be personable. If you have extra passengers, that’s $1.50 each on top of the mileage. No smoking. And the radio is tuned to their favorite station – not yours.

Most consultants charge by the hour or the day. The meter is running. When you need a special report or their attendance at an onsite meeting, there’s your bag charge. They may or may not be personable to anyone other than the executive who hired them. If you need additional work or facilitation or expertise, there’s a fee “on top of the mileage.” And most times, you’re locked into their “radio station” – tuned to their methodologies, their licensed tools, their processes – not yours.

What if you came across a dramatically different kind of cab driver? Let’s call him Ike.

1. Ike has his own business card with his personal cell phone number, a rocket logo and a humorous tagline, such as “Strap in. Hang on. Here we go!” One of his cab’s notable features is the Hot Wheels steering wheel cover. Your initial impression might be that he is direct and, most importantly, fast.

2. In addition, Ike is a great listener. This would be in contrast to some “real character” cab drivers, who are great talkers.

3. Ike takes credit cards and proudly displays the Visa and American Express decals inside his cab. A credit card transaction costs him between 2 and 4% of every sale. (The cab company does NOT subsidize this fee – it’s up to each individual driver to decide whether to accept credit cards or not.) But it also makes him easy to do business with – and, coincidentally, increases the likelihood of getting a nice tip.

4. Ike is proactive and offers suggestions. For example, when a passenger asks Ike for a good restaurant recommendation, he has a few of his favorite places in mind and a restaurant guide available right in the front seat of the cab. Ike will offer to take his passenger to the restaurant, and also to come back at an appointed time to save the hassle of tracking down another cab. He is never late. Does Ike profit from this? Sure. Does Ike’s passenger? Sure. Will some cab drivers refuse to come back at a set time for fear of losing a juicier fare or a longer ride that may or may not come along? You bet.

5. When picking up or dropping off from the airport, Ike always finds out a little bit about his passenger. Is this his first time in town? How long is his visit? If Ike discovers that his passenger has come for business and hasn’t any time to see the sights or experience the city, he offers to take the passenger on a 10-minute sightseeing tour of downtown. Pointing out the highlights, sharing a little history, and telling a few stories, Ike has his passenger back on his way with a real flavor of the city that he loves. Is this a gimmick to add 10 minutes to the meter? With some cabbies, it might be. But Ike’s passion and knowledge and eagerness to share it with his passengers cannot be faked. Would a friend do the same for you on your way out of town? Absolutely.

Let’s turn our focus to the lessons for consulting. Feel free to compare these consulting tips with the corresponding lessons from the taxi business above.

1. Successful consultants stand apart – both in form and in substance. Sales trainer, consultant, and author Jeffrey Gitomer uses a half-dollar sized coin with his image and contact information (and some clever slogans like “In Sales We Trust”) engraved on it as his business card. People not only remember it, they keep it and they show it to their friends. Your initial impression might be that he is successful, funny, creative, and different than every other “me-too” sales trainer wearing a nice suit and carrying sharp white business cards (yawn).

2. Successful consultants are not good listeners. They’re DEEP listeners. “Good” listeners use surface tricks and techniques like “active listening” and “matching and mirroring.” Deep listeners listen with no agenda. Your listening focus should be on empathy – literally “feeling WITH” the client – and understanding the issues behind the issues. This isn’t a trick you learn in “consulting school.” This comes from your heart and your genuine interest in helping the client improve their situation. Deep listening will help you understand the real value that the client seeks from you.

3. Successful consultants are easy to do business with. One of the world’s finest consultants, Alan Weiss, says in his book Million Dollar Consulting, “you have to spend money to make money.” Part of that money should be spent on things that will make you easy to do business with. Some of these things are almost trivial – being able to accept credit cards, having an 800 number, etc. And some of these things will be a major investment of time, effort, thought, and energy. Like designing a resource-rich web presence or moving to value-based fee-setting so people get you and your expertise without concern over when you punch in and out on the time clock.

4. Successful consultants are proactive and offer suggestions. Flexibility is a great source of strength. So is forward movement. When consulting with large organizations, it is easy to fall into their trap of “analysis paralysis.” Especially with all the hype around “getting close to the customer.” The danger for consultants in getting too close to the customer is that you’ll get mired in the same quicksand you’ve been brought in to rescue them from! Keep moving, and always offer options. It could be as simple as “Plan A or B or C,” but giving choices always enhances collaboration and provides a sense of shared responsibility for outcomes. And it’s harder to say “No” when asked “Chocolate or Vanilla or Strawberry?” Ideally, your clients will say “Wow, they ALL sound delicious.” Then you are in a position to make a recommendation based on your deep listening (See #2!)

5. Successful consultants work from passion, knowledge, and eagerness to help. The irony of this is that the more easy and effortless the work for the consultant, the greater the value it has for the client. For the consultant, the intersection of joy and business is called profit. Marketer, speaker, and author Seth Godin believes that in any business relationship, the sooner you ask for money, the less you will get. This has interesting implications for the consulting business, where knowledge and expertise (and to a certain extent, even conversation) has monetary value.

I happen to believe in the concept of value-first selling. In other words, you should give clients valuable information and point them to resources they need, even before you’re hired. You should work to make prospects think, “Wow, this guy is a goldmine. Imagine what we’d get if we actually HIRED him.”

Now a lot of sales and consulting experts call this “spilling the candy in the lobby” and they advise strongly against it. And I would advise against it too – if you’re only carrying one bowl of candy. But without bragging, I can safely say that among great consultants (people who work at the intersection of passion and knowledge and eagerness to help), we’re a veritable candy store and are not likely to run out anytime soon by sharing our gifts with clients that are hungry for what we have to offer.

Would you help a friend with your knowledge and expertise? Sure you would. Perhaps clients are simply friends that pay you money? Think about it.

Beep, beep. “Hop in!”

Marketing and innovation expert David Newman has written 8 books and has been quoted in dozens of national media outlets. David is also a sought-after speaker and seminar leader. Visit http://www.unconsulting.com for more free articles and resources.

Most salespeople I know consider cold calling a dreadful, but essential activity in our profession. Even those who are good at it rarely like it. Nevertheless, those who are successful in sales do it regularly because without prospects, one does not sell anything.

If you hate cold calling to the point where you won’t do it, you’ve got a serious problem. Let this go on long enough, and you’ll watch your commissions drop from low to zero as you lose your job.

If you truly hate cold calling to the point where it is really hurting your sales, I may know one of the reasons why.

Where’s The Pressure?

Too many salespeople take the bulk of the pressure on themselves in the sale. We’ve been conditioned into it by a society that teaches us that buyers shop, and sellers are there to “serve”. You’ve heard this before… “serve the customer”.

In “serving the customer”, we feel that we have to do whatever they ask to get the sale. Some prospects act like bratty children that just have to have their way. This can be quite annoying to deal with.

In letting this belief “serving the customer” dominate our attitude towards buying and selling, we give up a lot of power. It’s kind of crazy if you really think about it. The prospect is the one who does or does not have a problem to solve. Its not your problem – you are just offering a potential solution.

If your prospect does have a problem to solve, then it is his responsibility to solve it – not yours. What you can do is help him figure out how to solve it, and offer your products or services if they solve the problem.

When cold calling, you are looking for problems that you can actually solve. How effective you are at cold calling is really a matter of how effective you are at uncovering problems that you can solve. It is *not* a game of how good of a “pitch” you can deliver over the phone.

If you plan your cold calling by trying to craft the most interesting, exciting, and sparkling pitch to wow your prospects into meeting with you, then you are putting way too much pressure on yourself. This may just be stressful for you, or it can even be disabling to the point where you can’t or won’t do any cold calling.

I have a simple formula to take the pressure off of yourself and put it where it belongs – on your prospect.

Cold Calling Formula

1. Introduce Yourself, Your Company, and Your Results.
   
2. Get Permission To Ask Questions.
   
3. Ask Questions To Uncover and Amplify Problems and Opportunities.

Simple, huh? So simple, it may seem too easy.

The secret to the cold calling formula is how you do each step. Here’s an example:

“Hello, this is Shamus Brown calling.”

“I am with Jupiter Financial Partners, and using private equity, I help people get high investment returns without the risk and volatility associated with the stock market.

“Do you have a few minutes to let me ask you a few questions about your investments?

“What percentage did your investment’s increase this past year?

“Oh, they didn’t increase… they declined by how much?… hmm, sounds bad to me, but I am not you – is that kind of performance OK with you?”

This follows the simple format outlined above. Introduce yourself and your company, and wrap that introduction with a statement of the results that you provide for your customers. This is one of the keys to making cold calling easier.

The only thing your prospect will likely hear at the beginning of the call is your results. When you are cold calling someone, you are interrupting them in some way. Their attention is elsewhere. When they hear the results that you offer, you will get their attention IF they are interested in those types of results.

Next, if they are interested in those results, they will more than likely answer yes to your request to ask a few questions and talk further.

Finally, you immediately get into probing for problems, and amplifying the consequences. Once you are there, you will stir up their motivation and desire to talk further about your product or service.

Stop using lengthy introductions in your cold calling. If you get that slightly uncomfortable or nauseating feeling in your stomach while delivering your phone “pitch”, it is because your pitch is too long. The longer your pitch is, the more you are “at risk” because you do not know how the message is being received.

Shorten your cold calling opener to just the essential results that you provide, and then get right into probing for problems. You’ll sell more this way.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

Landlords and rehabbers take notice – you may soon be focused on the new concepts of “Virtual Real Estate Investing“. What is meant by “Virtual Real Estate Investing” ranges from online games like SecondLife (where real profit can be made) to the use of internet technologies to make normal real estate investors more profitable.

To separate fact from fiction, I asked Bryan Ellis of BryanEllis.com for comments. He’s the man many consider to be the father of this new form of investing.

“I began using the term ‘virtual real estate investing’ in the late 1990’s when I realized the clear similiarities in profit strategies, regardless of whether the “real estate” is “virtual” or “physical” said Ellis.

One example of the parallels between virtual and physical real estate Bryan Ellis cites is the similarity between the monetization of domain names versus physical property. He points out that control of a domain name or even a specific web page is much like controlling a real estate property ” those assets can be monetized in similar ways: By selling them for a profit, by leasing them, by offering advertising, etc.

The similarities really are obvious. For example, if you’re the owner of a desirable property, its desirability is (in a business context) largely due to its being in a location that is of interest to others. Similarly, ownership of a desirable domain name is valuable for the same reasons. So it doesn’t matter if you own physical real estate or virtual real estate – you’ll likely use similar strategies to turn them into money in your pocket.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing, Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

When considering the designing and programming for artificial intelligent robotic android system it might be wise to allow multiple programs that are simplistic to interact. In Stephen Wolfram’s book “A New Type of Science” he discusses cellular automata and how simple programs can create complex outcomes. In adaptive cellular automata it is possible to help us understand how such simple programs can interact and help us derive answers or solutions necessary to propel it artificial intelligence system.

As artificially intelligent designs android robotic computer systems become more popular and is generations of innovation perpetuate it will be necessary for these systems to program themselves. In other words they will need to write their own code, set up new databases to store informational input from observations and change algorithms based on the task, which is assigned by the human counterpart.

Repetitive tasks are very easy to program a computer to do. We already have computers which run small robotic household systems which do things like mow the lawn and vacuum a room, but in the future artificially intelligent robotic androids will be asked to do things they are not program to do, yet they are similar to things they may have already done and therefore they will need to modify pieces of existing algorithms, programs and use components or datasets within their memory in a piecemeal fashion. This will not be easy however adaptive cellular automata may come in very handy in some of these tasks and for those who are serious about pushing the envelope of artificial intelligence you are well advised to consider this year 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

If you happen to be shopping around for a mortgage, it is very important that you first take the necessary time to do your homework.

When I say homework, I am talking about research. There are so many loan programs out there that it is easy to get lost in all of the mortgage jargon that people in the industry love to use on you. Not to mention of all of the paperwork.

By the time you get to the table, you will have a mound of paperwork approximately six inches high filled with words and terms that most people in the business don’t even understand.

The mortgage industry is filled with all kinds of pitfalls that you can find yourself sitting in. This is why taking your time and doing research is key to purchasing a home. Research can literally save you thousands of dollars in closing costs and interest charges. So don’t rush into it!

For starters you will want to contact a realtor and a lender.

When choosing a realtor, ask a family member or friends to refer one to you, one they know well and can be trusted. Or better yet, one they have used personally.

There are many ways to choose a lender, but for starters, here are just a few ideas to get you started.

The traditional way would be to walk into your neighborhood bank and speak with a loan officer. If you don’t like that idea, you might consider filling out an on-line application, and let the lenders choose you. Or you could contact a broker.

A broker will evaluate your situation for you, and then shop around for a lender with the best program or rate, or both.

Remember, just because you have a realtor and a loan officer doesn’t mean you should stop doing your research. At this point in the game, you should be doing even more research. This way you will have an understanding as to what your realtor and loan officer are talking about when they start speaking their language.

You will also want to find out what your credit score is. Most likely your loan officer will do this for you. Your credit history plays a large role in the loan approval process, and it will also affect your interest rate.

If you already know that your credit is a little bit challenged, than you might want to start out using a broker. Most brokers work with about two hundred lenders, so they would be your best bet as far as finding a bank that deals with challenged credit.

When you are purchasing a home, you will hear things such as debt to income, appraisal, and loan to value. I’m sure you may have heard these terms in the past, but do you know what they mean, I mean, do you really know what they mean? Inside and out.

I cannot stress enough the importance of doing research before buying a home. It is such a vital component when it comes to saving money. Use the internet, use the library, and most of all, use your realtor and loan officer. Ask them as many questions as you possibly can, learn from them, after all, you are paying them!

Your home will most likely be the largest financial transaction you will ever make, so when you come to making your decision, make sure it is an educated one. Good luck!

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Are you searching the marketplace trying to pinpoint the best foreign currency exchange rates? The online world is a magnificent place to have a look at what is on offer and pick up the optimum offer. Even so, it is not entirely about looking the lowest exchange rate – fees, commission and transfer charges can often all make an enthralling rate all of a sudden bad value.

In this era of worldwide economic strife you certainly should work with a firm which you can really trust – to not only get you the choicest exchange rate possible at the sad era but of course to supply you with assistance and good advice. Foreign Currency Direct has been recognised in such respectable news papers as The Sunday unhappy period and The Observer as a well thought of enterprise with whom to have dealings with when buying foreign currency. Consequently, you can be sure you will be dealing with a professional & greatly thought of organization. Foreign currency exchange can be a risky business – talk to the experts at Foreign Currency Direct.

Dealing in foreign currency could be a difficult business – the currency rates perpetually fluctuate, therefore, if you do not appreciate access to the most recently updated information & capable experience you might well wind up forfeiting a large amount of currency. Foreign Currency Direct are experts when it comes to working with currency exchange rates – operational since the year two thousand they have moved from strength to strength.

Foreign Currency Directs rates are worked out using live, second by second interbank’ prices (the price at which one bank sells to the other) that are quoted in real time, making them a lot more competitive than rates offered by less specialised banks and building societies.

The first thing you must do is set up your account at Foreign Currency Direct & you commence trading currency – you can receive exchange rate quotes by telephone, if you accept the offer you shall get an email, fax or postal conformation of the contract.

If you are a homeowner considering refinancing your mortgage, how do you know if refinancing is the right financial decision for you? You certainly do not want to lose money when it comes to your mortgage; there are expenses involved and it will take time to recoup these expenses from any potential savings you could have, it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages prior to refinancing your mortgage. Here is what you need to know before you refinance your mortgage.

Is Refinancing Your Mortgage the Right Choice?

If you are refinancing your mortgage to pay less interest or lower your monthly payment you will not benefit from any potential savings right away. The reason for this is that it will take you time to recoup your expenses from lender fees and closing costs on the new mortgage. You need to consider how long you plan on living in your present home; if you will moving in less than five years you probably will not have time recoup these expenses. The longer you plan on living in your current home the more savings you will realize from refinancing your current mortgage.

Does Your Current Mortgage Have a Prepayment Penalty?

Many mortgage lenders include prepayment penalties in their loan contracts. If your current mortgage has a prepayment penalty you will have to pay the penalty when you refinance the mortgage. This penalty will cut into any potential savings you are hoping to achieve. Prepayment penalties can be quite expensive; many lenders charge up to six months worth of interest on 85% of your original loan balance.

Refinancing Costs

There are many expenses involved in refinancing your mortgage. Application fees, lender fees, title insurance, legal expenses, and closing costs all need to be factored into your decision to refinance you current mortgage. In addition to these fees the mortgage lender may require you to pay discount points in order to qualify for the lower interest rate. As a rule of thumb, if the new interest rate is not 1.5% lower than what you are currently paying, refinancing might not make good financial sense unless there are other reasons like cashing out equity. To learn more about refinancing your mortgage while avoiding common homeowner mistakes, register for a free mortgage guidebook using the links below.

To get your free mortgage guidebook visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below. Louie Latour specializes in showing homeowners how to avoid common mortgage mistakes and predatory lenders. For a free copy of “Mortgage Refinancing: What You Need to Know,” which teaches strategies to find the best mortgage and save thousands of dollars in the process, visit Refiadvisor.com. Claim your free guidebook today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com Apex Mortgage Refinance