Why You Should Never File Bankruptcy - By Patrick Thona

You know what it feels like to cringe when the phone rings. You stare at it, willing it not to be a bill collector. Let it be someone who is offering you a job, you pray. You pick up the phone gently, hoping, praying, but no, it's another creditor. "I'm sorry, I'm not working right now. I'll...I'll try to get you a payment as soon as I can." You hang up and cry, glancing at the past due notices and wondering again about the ad you saw on TV. Bankruptcy. The very idea makes you shudder, but you think to yourself, what choice do I have? I have to declare bankruptcy or I'll lose everything. It's at that moment that you need to take a step back and think. Ask yourself, is this really the best choice?

Bankruptcy is a drastic response to a situation that can be managed if you know where to turn. While it might be tempting to declare bankruptcy and walk away from all your debts, there are a lot of good reasons why you should never declare bankruptcy.

Did you know for instance that a bankruptcy stays on your credit record for ten years? And it's not just that the bankruptcy is listed; it's that it affects virtually every aspect of your life. These days, your credit report will be pulled for a wide variety of reasons, from getting a car loan to getting a job to getting a bank account. Having that bankruptcy listed on your report will make you look like a terrible risk for years to come. People will wonder if they can trust you. Will you just walk away from your responsibilities, like you walked away from your debts?

Bankruptcy also has other negative aspects to it. In a bankruptcy, you are required to list every asset you own. Your grandmother's fine china, which she left you for special occasions? It's fair game for a bankruptcy court to seize it and sell it at auction in order to pay your debts. Your car is likewise vulnerable. In fact, the only things you are allowed to keep in a bankruptcy are the essentials. You will not be left without a bed to sleep on, but anything which is a luxury item (i.e. beyond the basic necessities of life) is fair game and can be seized and sold to pay your debts. Mind you, we're not saying it will happen, just that it could happen.

In many states, bankruptcy can also affect your home. If you own your own home and have equity in it which you've built up over the years, it can be seized and you could be forced to live in a rented apartment. That is, you would live in a rented apartment if you could get one. However, with a bankruptcy looming, no landlord is likely to rent to you, leaving you dependent on cheap motels or the kindness of friends and family. While there are some states (famously, Florida) which do allow you to stay in your home even when you declare bankruptcy, many of them will (reluctantly) force you and your family to leave because the home must be sold to pay your debts.

Finally, there is a certain irony to the bankruptcy code today. It used to be that you could simply declare bankruptcy and start over again with your life. You would wipe the slate clean and never worry about your debts. Sure, you'd lose everything which wasn't a luxury, but at least you'd have your life back.

However, President Bush signed a bill into law during his first term in office which changed the rules for bankruptcy. In a cruel irony, it became much more difficult for you to simply declare bankruptcy and walk away. Instead, everyone is now required to attempt debt counseling and to investigate chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code, which provides for you to arrange for debt repayment. In essence, what this means is that the moment you declare bankruptcy, you may end up being required to pay off your debts anyway, while still having a bankruptcy listed on your record.

There is a better way. Try debt counseling and you will see that there is a brighter future possible for you and your children. You owe it to yourself to make the call today.

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About the Author:

Patrick is an article writer. His work has been published in newspapers, magazines and on various websites.

 Avoid Bankruptcy

 

The Law of Planning

By Brian Tracy

Every minute spent in planning saves ten minutes in execution. The purpose of strategic planning in a corporation is to reorganize and restructure the activities and resources of the company so as to increase the “return on equity,” or return on the money invested and working in the company. The purpose of “personal strategic planning” is for you to increase your “return on energy,” the return on the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual capital you have invested in your life and career.

Every Minute
Every minute that you spend planning your goals, your activities, and your time in advance saves ten minutes of work in the execution of those plans. Therefore, careful advance planning gives you a return of ten times, or 1,000 percent, on your investment of mental, emotional, and physical energy.

10-12 Minutes
It takes only about 10-12 minutes for you to make up a plan for your day. This investment of 10-12 minutes will save you time of approximately two hours per day, or a 25 percent increase in productivity and performance, in ROE, from the first day that you begin planning your day in advance.

Time Planner
The key to personal efficiency is for you to use a good time planner. Virtually any planner will work if you will discipline yourself to use it as the core of your time management system. Today, Palm Pilots and personal digital assistants (PDA), in combination with personal computers, can enable you to plan your time with greater efficiency than has ever been possible.

"Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals" If you dream of achieving great things in life, planning for making them a reality on paper is vital to your success. Identify what you need to do to achieve your most important goals (and) determine the steps you have to take to get from wherever you are to wherever you want to go."  Learn more here...

Master List
Begin with a master list as the foundation of your time planning system. Write down everything that you can think of that you will need to do for the indefinite future. As new ideas, goals, tasks, and responsibilities arise; write them down on your master list. Don't trust them to memory. Plan each month in advance by transferring the appropriate items from your master list to your monthly list. This is best done the last week of each month. Plan each week in advance by transferring items from your monthly list to your weekly list. This is best done the weekend before.

Plan Everything in Detail
Plan every project, meeting, and goal in detail, before you begin. The very act of planning forces you to think better and more accurately about everything you do. The more you think about and plan something on paper, the faster and more efficiently you will accomplish it when you start work.

Regular Planning
Regular planning assures that you spend more time on activities of higher value. This increases effectiveness and your efficiency in everything you do. Perhaps, the most important rule of all if for you to “think on paper!”

Action Exercise
Discipline yourself to work only on those activities that have the most significant impact and influence on your life. Get them done quickly and well. Once you develop this habit of planning and prioritizing, your stress level will decline, your productivity will increase, and your career will take off.

"The Psychology of Achievement: Develop the Top Achiever's Mindset" Brian Tracy -- America's "success mentor" -- demonstrates the attitude, deep self-knowledge and pin-pointed goals that are important factors in achieving great success. Packed with practical advice that lead to extraordinary results, The Psychology of Achievement will help you use every ounce of your potential. Learn more ...

The Law of Planning

 

Create Your Sales Plan for 2011

 
By: Brian Tracy

Nothing happens until a sale takes place. Your actual ability to sell your product or service to your customer determines your profit or loss, success or failure, in business. The sales process, to be effective, must be planned and organized in detail from start to finish. Every word and action must be scripted, rehearsed and memorized. Nothing can be left to chance.

Sales Recipe
Making a sale is like cooking with a recipe. You must use the correct ingredient and blend them in the proper quantity with the right timing. All successful companies have developed a proven sales process that can be duplicated over and over. By using a proven sales system, you can accurately predict the quantity of your sales, the average size of your sales, and the profitability of your sales activities.

Prospecting
It is important to speak directly or by telephone to people who can and will buy and pay in a reasonable period of time. Start with your ideal customer profile. Who is he or she exactly-in terms of age, occupation, income, education? Who is he or she exactly—in terms of problems, wants, needs, attitudes, and experiences regarding your product or service? If you could advertise for perfect customers, how would you describe him or her?

Marketing and advertising is aimed at telling your ideal prospect that your product will help them. The ideal prospect has an immediate need for what you sell. The ideal prospect knows you, likes you, and respects your products or business. The ideal prospect can buy and pay for your product if he or she likes it.

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Establish Rapport
Establishing rapport and trust with the customer is a must. The prospect will not listen to you or buy from you unless he/she likes you and believes that you are honest. Be friendly, straightforward and believable. Be punctual, prepared and properly dressed. Ask questions and listen carefully to the answers. Make no attempt to sell until the prospect is relaxed and comfortable with you. Identify what the customer needs so you can better sell to them. Ask carefully planned, structured questions so that you can fully understand the customer's situation.

There is a direct relationship between asking questions and sales success. Plan your questions word-for-word in advance. Make no effort to sell or talk about your product. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Presenting Your Product or Service
Repeat back the specific needs or concerns that your prospect has expressed. Position yourself as a trusted advisor, dedicated to helping him solve his problem or achieve his goal with your product. Position yourself as a teacher-showing her how your product works to help her satisfy her needs. Match the customers expressed needs and concerns to the product or service. Focus on helping rather than selling. Conclude your presentation with an explanation of how the product is delivered or used. Invite questions.

Action Exercises
List three phrases or questions you can use or ask to determine if this is a qualified prospect.

"Increase Your Sales and Income Immediately!" Do you ever wonder how luxury cars and designer handbags continue to fly off the shelves…even when the economy is bad? It's because price isn't the only reason why people buy. Learn how to separate your product from the competition and give your clients great reasons to buy—that have nothing to do with how much it costs! Click for more >>

Brian Tracy

Do you know what is truly the MOST powerful marketing and advertising on the planet?

Also before I tell you the answer, I want to mention that I am willing to bet you are either not using this most powerful marketing element at all or are probably not using it to its fullest potential...

The Answer is: Press Releases!

It sounds too simple to be true, but think about it:

With any other form of marketing if only one or two people respond to your ad campaign that usually means a failed campaign. However, that is not the case with press releases and press distribution! Just one feature or a mention in a popular or targeted business publication and you could have your company sailing on a sea of new sales and profits! We see it happen all the time... With the media and press releases your business's phones could be ringing off the hook!

The next question arises, "How do you go about writing a quality press release that will grab the attention of the media and your audience?" Here are some tips to help you succeed:

- Pick a "Newsworthy" Angle. Press releases are not an advertisement. Do not try to sell your product or service. Do not use "hype" in press releases. Instead give the media what they want and they will give you what you want... Now, what the press and media want is a story! Just provide: the Who, What, When, Where and How that uses your products and or services in a story format. Show examples of ways that people have used your products and services to their benefit. If you can include some emotions in your story all the better. Think to yourself: Would this be something that I might read in a newspaper?

- Get a Good Start. The headline and the first few sentences of the first paragraph are the absolute most important part of the press release. If you don't catch the readers interest here you will lose your audience. The best way to do this is to use your most hard hitting information FIRST rather than build to a climax. This may be opposite to what you would normally do but it does work! What follows in your press release are the details that SUPPORT your story or theme.

- Write to the Media. Remember your press release is being read by a journalist, editor or reporter, not necessarily a client. It's not your job to sell them your product or service, it's your job to give them an interesting story or piece of news that they will be happy to share and announce to their audience.

Once you've got a press release written, we're here to help you get it distributed to the media! Of course, if you need help in writing a good quality press release we can do that too!

Press Release