Native Fauna

By Peter Kenny

 There are many advantages to using a credit card for daily purchases, such as groceries, gas for the car and small purchases. They eliminate the need for carrying money with you all the time or the need for running up charges on your bank account by constantly using your debit card. Most hotels, for example, will not take a reservation without a credit card number that they can place of file even if you do not plan to use the credit card to pay for the accommodations. When you books flight online or make any purchase online, you cannot do so without a valid credit card. In this way, credit cards do give you security in knowing that you can make a purchase when you need to.

The important thing to know about taking advantage of the credit card is how to manage it properly. In order to avoid paying interest charges on the unpaid balance, pay off the balance at the end of the month or before the due date on the statement. You wont incur extra charges, not will you be late with your payment. This reflects well on your credit record when you do need to borrow from a lender.

If there are times when you are unable to pay the unpaid balance of the credit card in full, make, it is a wise practice to pay more than the minimum payment. This payment includes the interest charged on your unpaid balance and only a small portion of it will go towards paying off the balance. Anything that you pay over and above the interest for the month will help top reduce the amount you owe because it is applied directly to the balance. By paying only the minimum payment, it will take you a long time to pay of the credit card.

Compare the interest rates charged by different credit card companies to make sure you are paying the lowest rate possible. There are many companies that offer promotions in which you can pay off your outstanding balances on other cards for 0% interest or a low interest rate for an introductory period, which is usually six months. Even if you know that you will not be able to pay off the balance in full in this period, you can benefit from switching to this new card because by making your payments for six months you will drastically reduce the balance on which interest is charged after that time. You can also take out a loan to consolidate all the balances on your cards if you have more than one. This way you only have one monthly payment that is lower than the combined payments of all the cards.

Before you pass over your credit card to make a purchase, ask yourself if it is something that you need or if it something you just want to have. When you take all of your purchases seriously, you will be able to resist the temptation to make a frivolous purchase that you will later regret. Even though you do not have to pay the money for the purchase right way, you will have to start making payments when you credit card statement arrives.

Many credit cards come with other benefits such as accumulating points you can use toward other purchases. This is the case with many of the credit cards offered by large companies. When you make a purchase a percentage of the amount goes into a points balance. Then when you shop at that store again, you can have these points credited toward the cost of your purchase, thus reducing the price you would have to pay. If you are making a large purchase and you do have the cash available to pay for it, it would be to your advantage to use your credit card just to obtain the points. Then after a few days when the purchase has been added to your account, you can pay off the balance. This way you do not pay any interest charges and you get the points, so it is better than paying with cash. For large purchases as well, most businesses prefer to take a credit card rather than a personal check, so you may not have the option of paying by check.

If you travel a lot, you can also benefit from a credit card that gives you air miles for the money you spend. When you accumulate enough air miles for a trip, then you basically have the trip free because you have it already paid for. Just keep in mind that in order to use the air miles you do have to book well in advance to fly at the lowest number of miles. Most of these cards do come with an annual fee, but it pays to shop around to find a card with the lowest annual fee or no fee at all.

Peter Kenny has been writing financial articles for 10 years and is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Compare Credit Cards and Credit Cards

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Get Creative About Creating New Ezine or Blog Content
By Peggy Champlin

 The quality and value of your content will determine how your subscribers feel about you and your business. When we talk about starting a blog or an ezine, our clients will often express anxiety about generating quality content on a regular basis.

When I started my first ezine - long, long ago! - I was a little worried, too. But I soon realized it wasn’t that hard if I kept in mind the various formats I could use.

Your content can include one or more of the following formats:

* Editorials

You will become seen as an expert in your field. Use editorials to express an opinion and share your viewpoint on a topic. You can also write a chatty, personal piece to establish a rapport with your readers.

* Feature articles

These can be by you or other people. The best length is 300-700 words - long enough to have valuable information and short enough to get read. The topic should be related to your business.

* News clips or stories

This can be timely news in the area your business covers that would be of interest to your subscribers.

* Aggregating other content

As an expert on your topic, you can research and gather information from books and/or websites and present it. This can save your subscribers a great deal of time and be seen as quite valuable.

* Reviews

Beyond listing sources of information in your area, you can do in-depth reviews of books, websites, software, etc. This can be a great tie to affiliate programs to which you belong. Tell your readers specifically what is good and bad about the thing you review, making sure to be balanced. But do offer a recommendation about it. Should your reader check it out, or is it a waste of time?

* Announcements

These can be about your company, website updates, or new products or services you’re offering.

* Website updates

I’ve separated this out to mention it again because it’s key. You want to get people to keep coming back to your website. The more they visit, the more likely it is that they will buy something. So, mention new articles, new topics you’re covering within your theme, a contest, a free giveaway, a special discount, or a seasonal offer. Anything to get them to come back!

* Interviews

Publishing an interview with an expert is valuable content and not hard to create. You’ll just need to plan ahead a bit. Pick an expert and get to know a bit about him or her so you can be a knowledgeable interviewer. Decide on a topic for the interview and prepare a list of questions. Ask your expert to do the interview. Usually, they’ll be willing in order to get the visibility as an expert in your blog or ezine. Email a copy of the questions to your expert and review the reply. Prepare the article with the responses and get final approval from your expert.

* Q & A

You can have a regular or occasional article where you respond to questions your subscribers or clients ask. You can also make up your own questions and answer them!

* Entertainment

It can be fun to occasionally offer a joke or story. On my blog, I’ll sometimes post a funny story, jokes, or a thoughtful story or article that reflects my own philosophy. You can do this instead of a business-related piece, or in addition to one. You just want to make sure you have the right proportion of business content to entertainment content over time.

* Quotes

Many publishers include quotes that are relevant to the topic(s) covered in the current ezine or blog post.

If you keep a list of these presentation styles handy, you’ll have an easier time creating content for your next ezine issue or blog post.

Peggy Champlin’s web design business has been providing a full suite of services and products to help small companies build their businesses online since 2002. Visit Success With Ease to subscribe to our list and receive an article like this every week.

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