Kirberts finance advice and news

Jim Kemish

What Do You Want?

How serious are you about credit repair? Some people are happy to improve their credit, others are not satisfied until they master their credit scores. If you are aspiring for credit repair perfection, then you are ready for a lesson in the Zen of FICO.

Credit Repair Matters

Your credit score is just a number, and yet it can have a huge impact on your life. And in the wake of the credit-meltdown of 2007 creditors have tightened their guidelines and will now make sure you pay dearly for any deficiency in your credit score. Credit repair has never been more important.

Looking For Credit Repair Enlightenment

Do you want to master your credit scores? Are you ready for the Zen of FICO? If so, you will need to explore the deeper truths of credit repair - to understand the meaning behind the numbers. You need to enter into the mind of the creators; you need to know what Fair, Isaac and Company is trying to do.

A Bit of Background

Lenders base their underwriting decisions on credit scores they purchase from the three credit bureaus. The bureaus all use a scoring model called the FICO score. FICO is an acronym for Fair Isaac and Company, the developer of the score. Each bureau has re-branded the FICO score for marketing so you may hear it called by different names, but the formula is the same.

Why the Scores are Different?

You may notice that your three credit scores are different. This is because each credit bureau receives information from a slightly different mix of creditors. If you were to examine your three reports you will see that some accounts are missing on each bureau. Timing is also a factor; a recent change in your credit may be reported at one bureau before the others.

A Method to Their Madness

The FICO model is designed to measure the likelihood that you will meet your obligations. The purchasers of credit scores make money by lending you money. Their earnings come from interest you pay, along with any fees they charge. These creditors may measure your qualifications in other ways, but your credit score is the final criteria.

Be the Score, Grasshopper

To master the art of credit repair means to grasp the connection between your life and your credit scores. You need to understand that you are communicating information about your credit worthiness every day of your life. You provide the data that will determine your credit scores every time you make a payment, apply for credit, or open or close an account. What messages are you sending today? Let’s take a look at the behaviors that influence your scores. As we explore the components of credit scoring you will find an intuitive understanding arising; you will begin to make sense of the way FICO interprets your behavior.

Making Your Payments

Your payment history is a big component. Every time you make a payment you are telling the FICO model that you are responsible. You need to communicate this fact on a regular basis. If you don’t have sufficient credit your credit repair effort will not succeed. Installment accounts are good, but there is nothing like well managed revolving debt to improve your scores. You should have at least three credit cards. And if you really want results you must keep them active.

Your Account Balances

Here is another category of information that can shed light on the mystery of credit repair and the Zen of FICO. Think about your revolving accounts again. What message are you sending to FICO if you run your balances up to the limit? You are telling FICO that you are irresponsible. This may not be the case, but Fair Isaac and Company figured out that people with maxed out cards are much more likely to default than people who restrain their spending. A maxed out credit card is credit repair suicide. Conversely, the lower the balances relative to your high credit limit the better you will score. Do you see the logic?

The Length of Your Credit History

Cleaning up your credit report is an essential part of credit repair, but don’t close good accounts. FICO loves old accounts; the older the better. Old accounts indicate stability. Conversely, new accounts make FICO nervous. If you give in to the temptation to spend every penny of your new credit limit you may not be able to pay your bills. Again, that may not be the case, but statistically the evidence indicates increased risk. And measuring risk is what FICO is all about.

Those Darn Inquiries

We already know that FICO is not wild about new accounts. And where do those new accounts come from? From the FICO perspective, they come from credit inquiries. That’s right, every time you have someone run your credit you are telling FICO that you are about to get into debt. New debt means new risk. And FICO is all about risk. So Zen up your credit repair efforts and make sure you communicate the right message. Let FICO know that it has nothing to worry about. The more clearly you convey this message the higher your score will be.

Jim Kemish, a nationally recognized credit repair expert, is the president of Sky Blue Credit, a leading credit repair business since 1989. Jim is also the president of Power Mortgage, a Florida mortgage company.

Serge Dandelin

There are many things on the internet that are growing in popularity. However, the most common talked thing on the internet now is social networking sites. This includes sites like Facebook, MySpace, and of course, YouTube. These are places where people go to talk with friends and have an overall good time. One great thing about these sites is the fact that they have so many users on them, and they keep growing everyday.

It’s for this fact that a lot of people like to use these kinds of social networking sites to advertise their business. However, there are a few things that you have to be aware of before you do something like that. A lot of these social networking sites take active measurements against people advertising on their sites. Its easy to get your account canceled if you don’t follow these rules.

Just because some of these social networking sites do not like you to advertise on them, does not mean that no social networking sites like you to. There are some other networking sites like Yuwie that do not have a problem with you advertising. Thus, you ca go there and support your business to millions of users. Of course, keep in mind that these new sites that do not mind advertising are not as big as Facebook and MySpace.

So that brings us back to our question of how you can advertise on these sites to get people to visit your online business. Well, the best way to do this is to make a blog site about your business. A lot of time these networking sites do not like links on your profile page, but they do not mind blogs (go figure). So you can use this to help get some free advertising. Making a blog page is free, and you can make it about your online business. Then all you have to do is post your blog on your site, and people that visit your profile page will visit your blog; from there go to your business.

It can be hard to find little loop holes in the wording of these social networking sites. Be sure to read all the rules very carefully so that you do not break any of them before posting on these new sites. A lot of places, like Facebook, have made it very clear that they do not want people advertising on their site. Thus, it’s best to stay clear. However, if you want to advertise there, then you better read the rules. You may be able to find a way to beat the system.

When done properly, social media marketing can generate substantial relevant traffic to a web site. Once the traffic comes to your web site, its up to you to figure out how to utilize it (CPM, Adsense, sales, ezine sign up etc…) When you take the plunge into social media marketing, you will soon appreciate the advantages of it.

To Your Success!

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Jeff Moriarty

Why You Need a Brochure for your Small Business

According to marketing expert Julie Hyde, “If you want to look like you mean business, you need a brochure.” Gone are the days when a business card and a handshake was enough to instill our confidence in someone offering services. Now we want proof of their livelihood, pictures of what they can do or what they have to sell, and we want to take it home and read it in private.

A brochure also ensures that you will connect with more genuinely interested people. Directing someone to a website does not mean they are going to go there anytime soon, or ever. And your business card doesn’t tell them anything about upcoming sales or special offers. Brochures save time for your prospective customers by letting them access the information they want more easily, and they save you time by explaining the basics of what you have to offer.

Designing a brochure is not easy, and its not something everyone can do. Coming up with a great brochure proves you’ve got it together, and shows that you have resources.

Tips on Creating Your Brochure

–Think of your audience- People like brochures because they answer some of their important questions without further research on their part. Think of questions a customer might have about your products or services and come up with answers. Putting the answers in a bulleted format or exploring them in different sections, will help the reader feel like he is getting something out of the brochure.

–Create Visual Interest- Don’t make it a mystery. Put more than just your logo or an extreme close-up of some unidentifiable product on the cover. Lure the reader inside with a great product photo or the promise of a sale.

–Use effective descriptions- Describe the Features, Attributes, and Benefits of each product or service (known as “FAB” in sales). Don’t just say what it is, but also say what it does, and why it is special. Don’t describe your product in model numbers or technical terms — if you go into that much detail the reader will think they’ve picked up an instruction manual, not a brochure.

–Include something they’ll want to keep - Depending on what you are selling, there are many opportunities to include information in the brochure that the customer might save for later use (and therefore save your brochure). A checklist on preparing a home for your flooring products, a guide to feeling younger to go with your spa products, a map of the region where your resort is located, ideas for a craft project using your art products, or a list of online resources for more information (including your website!) are all good options.

–Don’t get caught up in all the bells and whistles - As you’ll see below, the best brochure does not have to be the one with the most colors, finishes, or the fanciest die cut shape. Keep it simple and appealing. A few great photos and some well chosen words can go a long way over sales talk, starbursts, and bright colors everywhere.

Getting Your Brochure Printed

Now that you’ve developed a beautiful piece with a strong message (of course!) you need to get it printed. Some things to consider when printing your brochure:

Folding: Brochures can be folded in several ways, and the fold sometimes depends on how you’ve built your design. Three common folds are a half-fold, a gate fold (or tri-fold), and a Z-fold.

Paper Stock: Consider how heavy you want the paper to feel, if you want it to be able to lay flat, to keep its folds or even stand up. Compare different paper widths, i.e. magazine pages, magazine covers, business cards, and see which feels right. Try folding it and see how that feels too. Consider your audience, and the possibilities of colored papers, natural papers, and recycled papers.

Coatings: The most common coating is called an aqueous coating, and that’s what makes things like brochures and magazines look shiny. High quality coatings are also available such as UV coating and high gloss. For the coating consider your audience and your message — are you a non-profit organization or a resort hotel? The former might want no coating at all, for a more natural look, and the latter might want the glossiest product possible. If you are raising money, you don’t want to look like you are spending too much of it on your literature! But if you are a high-end business, you may want your brochure to simply drip with quality.

Jeff Moriarty Printing You Can Trust Brochure Printing