Most often, people assume that obtaining credit reports is just a way to gather their credit scores and find out what entities they owe debts towards. However, utilizing the power of instant credit reporting can be extremely useful for other types of services in which background checks need to be administered.
Screening employees
Do you run a small business which depends on the work of employees? Regardless if your business is in your home or located in a small neighborhood store, anybody that you have working for you needs to be trusted.
What better way to find out a little bit about their background than by utilizing an instant credit report service? This is especially true if your business deals with the handling of large volumes of money, such as a check cashing establishment.
Screening new tenants for your real estate properties
Another useful means in which instant credit reports can be utilized is by landlords who are renting out their homes or apartments to tenants whom they do not know. Within five minutes of requesting a background credit check, you will know whether or not your potential tenant can be trusted with his or her rental payments.
How you base this trust in connection to their credit report is up to you, however, it is usually pretty easy to detect a relation of their spending habits with that of the instant credit report and what information it reveals.
Screening potential customers for financing needs
Do you plan on opening up a business in which you will finance your customers on a payment plan? Regardless of the product you provide, if your business model relies heavily on accepting future monthly payments by customers whose product is delivered to them immediately, there is no better way to determine who qualifies as a customer then by utilizing instant credit reports.
Let's face it, there is no point in going into the finance business (money or hard goods) if you do not have the ability to run a background credit check on your potential customers.
You must be qualified to run instant credit reports on individuals.
Before you run out and decide that obtaining background credit checks is a must-have tool for your business needs, it is important to understand that you cannot obtain a copy of another person's credit file without permission.
It is totally illegal to do so and you are well advised to check with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for details and specifications about what circumstances can qualify you to obtain a credit report, and by whom.
Access is restricted
If you decide that you must have the ability to run instant credit reports on individuals other than yourself, then the rules state that these credit reports are restricted to a business that has a specific need, such as the above examples in this article, as well as handling consumers who have specifically requested you to run their credit reports. Other examples include having power of attorney or if you are the parent of a child and in need of a report for him/her.
Writing a press release is a great way to gain plenty of exposure for your business and unlike advertising.....it is free.
Do you know how easy it is to get stories about your company on TV, on the radio, in newspapers, in magazines and on the internet simply by submitting a press release about the new thing going on with your company? And keep in mind, these are stories about your company.
These are not ads that you are paying for. People are more trusting of the stories they read. Printed stories do not evoke in readers suspicion as advertising does. Now that's exposure you just can't buy.
Below are 12 tips to get you started:
-Write and distribute press releases consistently to promote your product, service, cause or issue. Be certain they are direct-to-consumers releases. You can get more tips on how to do this at: www.DanieBaptiste.com
- To demonstrate your expertise, write "how-to" articles and submit them to high trafficked directories such as: EzineArticles.com & Ideamarketers.com These same articles can be sent to newspapers, trade publications, magazines and both online and print newsletters.
-Start your own blog and post entries to it at least three times a week on your topic. You'd be surprised how many journalists do their research on the internet and interview bloggers.
-Create a profile at social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, Ryze, and LinkedIn. These sites are growing by the day as millions of people turn tothem instead of to traditional media for their news, entertainment and networking activities.
-Find out the reporters who cover your industry and invite them to lunch. Let them know that you are someone whom they can call on for background, commentary and story ideas. Don't be shy. Reporters appreciate it when you call to ask, "How can I help you?"
-Contact the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want coverage in and request a copy of their editorial calendar. This is a free listing of all the special sections and special topics coming up during the calendar year.
This information alone will tip you off to sections where your story idea would be a perfect fit, enabling you to query the editor weeks and even months ahead.
-Send in press releases to radio stations letting them know about any fun and unusual promotions your business is putting on.
-Send in a pitch to the media suggesting profile stories about individuals (your employees, of course!) with interesting or unusual hobbies or volunteer in outstanding community service projects. The reporter will call to ask them where they work—and that's more publicity for you.
-Develop relationships with columnists at newspapers and magazines and continue to feed them fresh ideas because they are hungry for it. Mail them a press release about the trends you are seeing in your industry.
-Ask your trade association to refer reporters to you. This is one of the places that reporters call when they are looking for sources.
-You can send in a press release and a complimentary issue to reporters in your industry if you've published a printed newsletter with helpful tips or off-the-wall stories of your customers, with their permission, of course. This will more than likely get you lots of interviews with the media.
-If there is a national story being covered and you can give a perspective being the local angle....a simple press release can get a reporter over to your business with pen in hand ready to give you free publicity if you can appeal to a wide audience.
You've just made it so much easier for the media as they don't have to spend too much time on researching a topic of great interest to their audience.
Both Thomas Loden & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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