When I was launching my first business and thinking about how to promote it, spending money on advertising just wasn’t an option. But I needed a way to let people know about my product, to get them to trust me, and to convince them to buy.

It turns out blogging is one of the best cheap ways to get the word out about a new business.

Here are three ways that blogs (yours and others’ ) can bring new customers to your business:

1. Blogging establishes your credibility.

Whether you’re selling small business consulting or wind power generation kits, publishing articles about your product or service lets your prospect know that you know what you’re talking about. And if you know what you’re talking about, their fear of wasting their money and time with your product/service is diminished.

Before my business partner and I tried to sell expensive business coaching, he spent nearly a year publishing high value articles on his blog. He gave away huge amounts of insight and support for free before we ever asked a single person to make a purchase.

When we finally did announce that we were offering an expensive consulting package, we had dozens of people express interest the first day we made the announcement. All that pent-up demand was the result of the credibility and good will he had established with the blog.

2. Blogging triggers reciprocity.

When my partner was blogging – giving away all that free information and insight – he was adding value to his readers without asking for anything in return. The more he gave, the more grateful his readers became. The more grateful they became, the more they had a desire (whether conscious or subconscious) to repay him.

This is called the “law of reciprocity.” When you give someone something of value, their instinctive response is to feel like they owe you something in return. That doesn’t mean every one of them will buy from you, but it might give them the little push they need to seriously consider making a purchase. And if your product offers real value, getting enough people to seriously consider a purchase is enough to grow a successful business.

3. Blogging creates word of mouth marketing.

If you’ve added value to your readers with high quality content, thereby triggering reciprocity, one of the ways they’ll want to give back to you is to refer other people to your blog. This leverages one of the other simple realities of human nature – we all want to look smart and in touch. If your content is high quality, your readers have an opportunity to look very smart to their friends (and maybe their blog readers) when they send people your way. They’re trying to look smart by associating themselves with you and your content.

On the web, these referrals are usually in the form of links. You write great stuff, your readers read it, then they link to it from a variety of other places: their blogs, their facebook pages, google+ pages, twitter, forums, etc. This is digital word of mouth marketing. It’s cheap (in dollars), and extremely powerful.

Effective marketing on a budget is possible – you just have to think about ways to spend time instead of spending money (which you don’t have). If you do it right, blogging is a perfect way to invest your time and build your business.

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Are you above the age of 60 and looking for a life insurance policy? Recently, a survey was done to find out how many seniors are looking to buy life insurance and one thing they found was that an overwhelming majority still did not have coverage and were looking for it. So in this article I’m going to give you 3 easy tips to getting a policy in your older years.

Go With Term Coverage

The first thing you need to think about as a senior is what type of coverage you should get. For starters there are several different kinds available. You have whole life, which is a fixed policy that covers you for your entire life and also means you will have to pay into the policy for your entire life.

You also have variable universal life, and indexed universal life. These again are permanent policies just like whole life but allow you to invest the money in your cash value account in different ways such as in a market account or an indexed account.

The problem with these types of policies is that they will cost far more and can be much harder to qualify for. In fact, if you are above the age of 55 it can be difficult to get accepted for a variable or indexed policy simply because of the investment strategies being used in these policies.

Instead, consider going with a term life insurance policy. These policies are much cheaper by far since they don’t contain cash value accounts, and will be much easier to qualify for because they don’t carry the extra investment qualifications. In fact, you can expect to pay half the price in most cases with these types of policies versus permanent policies.

Go With A Lower Death Benefit

The next thing you need to consider is the amount of coverage you need. The truth is the older you get the less coverage you will be able to get. It’s just a basic rule when it comes to buying life insurance for seniors. This means you should stick with a lower death benefit if you want to get accepted.

In fact, my research has shown me that once you are past the age of 60, your life insurance cost will increase dramatically. This is why I suggest you stick with a policy of $100,000 or less. However this needs to be based on what your needs are and why you need the coverage.

If you need the large amount of coverage to pay off bills after you pass, that is one thing but if you only need the coverage to pay for the funeral cost then you might even want to consider going with just a $25,000 policy. In fact life insurance policies with the AARP can be a great option because the death benefits on their policies can be lowered to these levels.

Cut Down The Term Length

Finally, the last thing you can do to improve your chance of getting a policy as a senior is to cut down the length of the term life policy. In most cases term policies can range from as long as 30 years to as short as 10 years.

The biggest benefit in doing this is that it will allow you to keep a higher death benefit and pay far less. For example, a $100,000 thirty year term life policy at 65 might run you $80 to $100 a month. However if you were to cut it down to a 10 year term policy it might only cost you $40 to $50 a month depending on your health.

Final Thoughts…

As a final thought it’s impossible to say what will give you the best bang for your buck when buying a life insurance policy. For this I recommend you contact your local insurance agent and have them run several different policy illustrations for you to find an option that is suitable to your needs.

Also check out Stumble Forward.com where you will be able to learn more about some of the issues that come along with buying life insurance through the AARP, and where the best place is get this kind of insurance.

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Filing Chapter 13 stops the repossession if it has not already proceeded. For example, if the car is going to the auction block that weekend, filing for bankruptcy may not stop the repossession or car auction. And it would be too late to stop the lender from sticking you with the deficiency owed after the auction results in less money brought in that was owed against the car.

In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the borrower gets to negotiate a repayment plan with the creditors. If the auto loan lender accepts a payment under the repayment plan, you get to keep the vehicle. If they do not accept the payment plan, they may be able to repossess the car. Chapter 13 allows car payments for vehicles needed to get to and from work or school to be counted as necessities. In most cases, you also get to keep cars that are already owned debt-free.

It would be advisable to sell second and third vehicles, RVs, 4-wheelers and any non-essential vehicles to raise money to pay down your debts. An RV may be saved if it is your primary residence or if you will sell the house in bankruptcy and make the RV your primary residence. However, you should always discuss these matters with Minneapolis bankruptcy lawyers to prevent problems with your bankruptcy filing.

What happens if you can sell the car to pay off the debt entirely? For example, what if you received a new job that provided a company car or received a small car as a gift from a relative? Speak with a Minnesota bankruptcy attorney to adjust your repayment plan to eliminate the automotive debt from your bankruptcy case.

Do not claim a vehicle as a work vehicle if it is not. This can place your bankruptcy filing in jeopardy and result in it being nullified. Never gift a car or sell it to a family member below fair market value in an effort to shield it from bankruptcy. If you own multiple vehicles needed for a business, such as a towing business or construction firm, ask a Minnesota bankruptcy attorney if a Chapter 11 bankruptcy may be right for you. Do you need the trucks, tractors or ATVs for your farm? Minneapolis bankruptcy lawyers can help you determine if you are eligible for a Chapter 12 bankruptcy. While it is restricted to farmers and fishermen, it is cheaper than Chapter 11 bankruptcy and can offer more forgiving terms.

Editor’s disclaimer: this article is for information only, and does not constitute legal advice. Since everybody’s own personal circumstances will be different, it is important to get profesional advice from a lawyer or independent financial advisor in order to best manage your individual financial affairs.

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How about retraining?

Going back to school and learning a new skill or trade is a popular route to extra cash. Consider something that you already like doing and foster that talent to the point where you can begin to sell it to other people or businesses.

Working with something you like to do as an independent contractor is also a great way to bring in money. Some examples of areas that are really booming for consultants are photography, design and even areas such as jewelry. If you have a specific trade you are skilled in then consider providing tuition in these ares (if feasible).

How about arbitrage and/or sales?

If you are interested in buying and selling, then you may want to explore the field of arbitrage. Essentially you will be buying an item at a low price and then turning it around and selling it for a higher price.

Start with items or areas that you have an interest in, for example baseball cards. Check out online auction sites or your local flea market and buy cards at rock bottom prices and then turn them around for high profits.

Ebay is often quoted as a key tool to facilitating arbitrage operations. This is still valid but you should also consider Craigslist too. Many people can make a nice supplemental income (some even making it their permanent full-time job) but it can require a lot of hands on work. Individuals with good copywriting skills usually do well in this field.

How about contracting?

Working as an independent contractor has numerous advantages from a financial perspective but the rewards can get even better if you get into sales lead generation. All you have to do is call and speak with possible clients in order to create future business for a company.

Most independent contractors get paid by the call, job-lot or meeting, and some even get a commission if a sale is made as part of their work. One online contracting role currently trending is working as a sales lead generator, and has huge income potential.

This can be lucrative especially if you already have a good social network in a business sector which you can call upon. You may not think you have contacts, but using services like LinkedIn will quickly highlight the vast number of potential leads you could locate via current and past employers.

In conclusion, the money is out there waiting for you to make it. It just depends on your will to work for it through educating yourself and/or finding a way to sell your services to those that need help. The opportunities to make money really are many and varied but you need to actively seek them out.

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Many insurance companies do offer teen auto insurance coverage, which protects the teenager and any damages occurred while driving. Premiums are typically higher for drivers under the age of 25, and may be even higher for teenagers. An agent from your insurance company may be able to advise you on whether it is cheapest to include your teenager as a driver on your own policy, or to exclude them from it and get your teenage driver his or her own policy. Having decided this, there are some things you can do to lower the premiums:

Shop around. Start with local companies, and compare their quotes, being sure to read the fine print, to see who has the best rates.

Somewhere in the market there is a policy that offers you the best coverage for the least money, and as with all these things, it is a matter of looking until you find it. The internet can help you with this, so visit the insurance companies’ websites and try an online quote comparison service.

If a rate seems too good to be true, that might be because it is. Check the policy conditions carefully so you know you’re getting as much coverage as you need.

Find Discounts Targeted at Teenagers

Some companies have discounts available for teenage drivers who:

- have good academic grades
- no longer live with their parents
- attend a university away from home
- attend a defensive driving course

Try to help your teenager realise the value of being a responsible driver, as not only is it safer, but it will save him money on auto insurance.

As the factors described above are taken by insurance companies as an indication of responsible behavior, try encouraging your teen to do some of those things as a way of cutting down auto insurance costs. After all, it’s another good reason to do well in school, or learn to drive more safely.

It may work out cheaper to add your teenager to your auto insurance policy, depending on how your own policy is affected by any claims your teenage driver needs to make. Consider any changes you can make, such as reducing your mileage to reduce your own insurance risk.

Another major factor in your teenager’s auto insurance risk is the type of car he or she will be driving. Save money by choosing a low-risk sensible car such as an old passenger car or sedan, rather than a brand new car, an SUV, luxury car or sports car. Make sure that your teenager’s car has all the appropriate safety features. An inexpensive car with higher safety ratings will help you get an auto insurance policy with lower rates.

Finally, consider asking your teenager to pay their own insurance premiums, as this will give them more reason to drive carefully and keep a clean driving record.

Teenage auto insurance doesn’t have to be unaffordably expensive. Change some of the factors listed above and compare at least five online quotes, and you are bound to find savings.

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