Teach Me How to SaveA lot of children don’t understand the value of earning, spending and saving a dollar. Our children aren’t taught how to invest at an early age, because many of us, weren’t taught. How can we teach something we don’t do for ourselves? As parents, we play an integral role in our children’s financial education. Our school system doesn’t and can’t teach these fundamental principles.

First, we must educate ourselves on money matters. You should be able to teach your kids on how to save money. This will prepare them to learn money management, as they grow older.

Here are some tips on how you can teach your children how to save money:

Teach your children the meaning of money. Once your children have learned how to count, that is the perfect time for you teach them the real meaning of money. You should be consistent and explain to them in simple ways and do this frequently so that they will be able to remember what you taught them.

Always explain to them the value of saving money. Help them to understand the importance of saving and how it will help them in their lives. Saving for the rainy day is not a popular saying anymore, but it really gets driven home through examples in your own life. It is important that you listen to their questions about money and be able to answer yourself.

When giving your children their allowances, give it to them in single dollar bills. Then you can encourage them to save a certain number of bills for the future. You can motivate them to do this by telling them that the money saved can buy them a new pair of shoes or the toy they want once they are able to save enough to purchase.

You can also teach them to save money by giving them piggy banks where they can put coins and wait until they get full. You can also open bank accounts for them and let them deposit money from their allowance. You should always show them how much they have earned to keep them motivated.

Teach them to work for their money, start at home. Pay them fifty cents to one dollar every time they clean their rooms, do the dishes or feed their pets. This concept of earning little money will make them think that money is something they have worked for and should be spent wisely.

Money and saving is not something that is learned by your children overnight. Be patient in teaching them and relate the value of money in all of their activities. Children will learn this easily if you are patient and consistent in guiding them and encouraging them.

While there are other forms of marketing, word-of-mouth marketing stands out as the #1 choice for most small businesses. Even large corporations depend on this powerful marketing tool to drive their sales. There’s nothing like a warm referral from someone whom you trust. As a matter of fact, when most clients come to you by way of referral you will probably never get asked the question, “can you provide me with a few of your references?” The referral coming to you trusted the person who gave them your name so much that it’s all they needed.

Have you tapped into the powerful tool of word-of-mouth marketing yet? If not, it’s time to see the beauty of it in action! However, you must first lay your ground work by making sure you are ready to receive referrals. Ensure you have the following in place:

1. The Right Voicemail Greeting

There’s nothing like being referred to a small business and the voice mail either sounds uncaring or too wordy. If you are not available to answer the phone, make sure you leave an inviting and professional greeting that will make the caller want to leave a detailed message.

2. Intake Form

An intake form captures all of the information that you will need from referrals to service them. If you do not have a way to maintain information you receive from a referral chances are you don’t have a good follow-up system either. One of the easiest ways to give a bad impression is to talk on the phone for 15 minutes to a referral, hang up and not have their basic contact information or remember specifically what they needed or who referred them. This is easy to do, because most small business owners handle multiple administrative tasks. By having an intake form you eliminate the possibility of not capturing vital information you need from your referrals.

3. Know Your Products and/or Services & Prices

Yes, it’s easy when talking to a prospective client to forget detailed information about your products and services. Make a list of common questions and answers that you might be asked and have them ready for easy access.

4. Follow up system

Once you have connected with your referral, how will you follow up with them? What information will you send to them? How will you close the sale? Earlier it was mentioned that having an intake form is an essential tool. Well, it is actually a part of your follow up system, because you can use it to keep up with what you sent to your prospect and know what else is needed to close the sale. Other follow up tools might include your marketing material, such as your brochure. As a side note, it is important to remember that your brochure should basically restate what you have already verbally discussed with your prospect.

5. Thank You Letter & Gift (referrer)

Whether you were able to close the sale or not, you should always send a card, thank you letter and/or token of appreciation to the referrer. Let them know that you appreciate them!

6. Incentives

Take the time to research and brain storm the type of incentives you can offer your current clients for referrals. Other small businesses have used percentage off current services, gift certificates/cards, free services, coupons, unique gifts and promotional items etc.

By having the above tools in place you can maximize a referral opportunity and start building a referral network that can help to increase your sales!

Marketing your business should be a consistent priority daily. The importance of spreading the word about your product or service can be the difference between success and failure. As a home-based or small business owner, you will wear many hats. This will include worker, manager, janitor, receptionist, order taker and a host of other duties.

Sometimes, we can get so caught up in being the worker for the business that we forget we also have to be the visionary and the planner – the role that gives the business guidance and ensures its longevity.

Consistent marketing and promotion not only help in branding your business, but it can also help with the following:

* Keeping current clients/customers informed of new products/services
* Bringing in a stream of new clients, which is vital for business growth
* Encourages and motivates you to keep up with trends in your industry
* Creates a vision for your business. This is especially helpful if you do not have a storefront or retail business where people are exposed to it daily.
* Adds professionalism and sets a standard for your business

Commitment to your marketing efforts is key. A minimum of 2 hours daily should be given to marketing. This can include: calling current customers and updating them on product specials or new services; creating brochures or flyers to mail out to potential customers; participating in community events or finding new avenues of advertising.

The following are 8 ways that you can market and promote your business:

1. Press Release. When you launch a new business, product or service or you are involved in a newsworthy event, write a press release and send it to publications that your clients/customers read.
2. Volunteer. Volunteer a limited amount of your products or services to a worthy cause. For example, if you own a graphic design company, you might design a conference brochure or guide for the American Cancer Society or a local women’s hospital. This not only gives you a great client reference, but it gets your work in front of potential clients.
3. Advisory Team. Create an Advisory Team of individuals in various professions. Include benefits: organize a bi-monthly or monthly luncheon, offer discounted services/products etc.)
4. Web Site. Web Site. A web site is a great way to promote your products and services. There are many companies that offer low-cost sites as little as $7.95 monthly or free sites (plug in “free web sites” on your search engine and review which has the best offer and quality).
5. Newsletter. Create a 8 ½ x 11 one-page newsletter and send out monthly via email or US mail. Include service/product updates, informative articles that can be put to good use.
6. Open House. Have a quarterly open house or social where you display your products or provide an enlightening seminar on your services. Offer refreshments, samples or discount coupons and allow your clients to mingle. Also allow your clients/customers to introduce themselves and share information if they would like to.
7. Advertise. Based on the type of business you have, advertising with your local community paper or cable channel can be cost-effective. Call and ask for an advertisement kit or rates. Information should include: publication distribution including areas, number of readers or viewers broken down into categories etc.
8. Join Projects. Establish working relationships with other businesses where your services or products compliment one-another. Develop ways you will work together. This can include: providing cross-referrals to one another, doing presentations together and sharing ad space etc.