|
||
Payday loans are everywhere and easy to get. With so many people living paycheck to paycheck these loans are becoming a popular way to handle unexpected expenses. There are some good points and bad points to pay day loans. You should always be well informed before borrowing money and the following will explain what payday loans are and some things to watch out for so you do not end up with financial troubles.
Payday loans are where you write a personal check to a payday lender. The lender holds this check for a set period of time and loans you the amount of the check minus fees. The lender then cashes the check on the agreed upon date. You can also pay the amount to the lender and get your check back or pay additional fees to lengthen the time of the loan. Most fees charged are based upon the amount they are lending you.
The Truth in Lending Act makes it mandatory that the lender lets you know about any fees associated with a pay day loan. To receive a pay day loan you will need a checking account and a form of identification. Pay day loans are quite easy and fast to get.
Pay day loans can help you solve a money crunch. If you use them responsibly you can benefit from them when you have an emergency. You shouldn't rely on them as a means of getting by all the time. They can help you avoid borrowing from friends or family, having to get a loan, bouncing checks or having to pay late fees. They are here to help if you have no other credit option, but need money now. There is no inquiry into your credit report and it is easy and fast to get one. A pay day loan is a good option for someone who needs emergency cash before pay day.
Pay day loans have been looked down upon because some people rely on them to get by month to month. Some people fall way behind and have to get an extension on their loan. This racks up fees and causes more financial problems. The mandatory arbitration clauses included in the contracts make it impossible for people to seek legal means against the loaners in court. You can get extensions on your pay day loan if you can not afford to pay the check back, but this will cost you more fees. If you use these pay day loans every pay period you might find yourself wrapped up in debt.
Alternative options to pay day loans may be better for someone who has financial problems. You may be able to call your creditors and get extensions or waive late fees. You may find a small loan will help you pay off some debt and relieve the need for pay day loans. A cash advance on a credit card may have smaller fees than a pay day loan. Some local community programs provide emergency assistance for those having cash problems. Seeking alternative options may help you avoid getting in a financial crunch.
Pay day loans can help, but they can also cause problems. The bottom line is if you use pay day loans in emergency situations and you know you will have the money to cover it without falling into debt then a payday loan is for you. If you are relying on pay day loans to get by check to check and having problems paying back the loans then you should seek an alternative method. Pay day loans are intended for occasional needs not as a means of getting by.
Ahhhh, but do you know who your target is? Without a defined market you are doomed to failure.
How can you define your market? How do you figure out what questions they are asking and what their problems are?
There are actually several ways of beginning research into a niche market. Today I'm going to discuss just one – using PPC advertising and a flycatcher page.
We will assume two things. One – you have a topic but not a product. Two – you have an advertising budget between $50.00 and $100.00.
You have decided on a topic. First head over to Clickbank (a digital affiliate program). You can search through over 10,000 different products there and become an affiliate for any of them.
Check out a product that is similar to one you'd like to produce. Clickbank has only digital products, which are immediately downloadable. They have a tutorial program that will walk you through their site so you can use it to your advantage.
Second, if you can purchase the product for which you will become an affiliate, do it! It gives you the distinct advantage of knowing your competitor and knowing the product you are promoting.
Let me pause here to say that if there are no products in the market you target, there very well may not be a profitable market. You may have a great idea but the majority of people in that market may be looking for freebies. Stay away! Find another niche and move on. If there is no competition there isn't a market.
Third, set up accounts with Google and Yahoo!/Overture for their PPC programs. Google and Overture/Yahoo have tutorials to help you with the process. You can begin using Google Adwords immediately but have a waiting period to be approved with Overture. With Google you pay as you go and with Overture there is a significant upfront cost depending upon your monthly budget.
Fourth, set up a landing page for a Google Adwords and Overture PPC campaign. You'll need a landing page because of some new rules Google wrote this past year. Basically, each advertiser must have a unique website so that the customer doesn't end up at the same page after clicking on three different ads.
Your objective is to figure out if selling this product to this market is profitable. If it is then you can move on to the next step, which is a flycatcher page.
Fifth, using the same domain and hosting as your landing page you can develop a flycatcher page to figure out what questions this target market has and how you can answer them.
A flycatcher page is nothing more than a questionnaire or a way of asking people their most burning questions about a topic. You can do this using PPC and using forums and groups. The concept is the same although the quality of the traffic will be different.
Using the PPC, and writing an ad that leads people to believe there is a product on the other end, you have people who are ready to purchase. Going through forums and groups will get you questions from people who may be interested in the topic but may not be ready to purchase.
Use both techniques to get a balanced list of questions on which to build your product.
Sixth, set up the flycatcher page and PPC campaign. As I implied in the paragraphs above you should write your PPC ad as if the people will be sent to a page where they can purchase something. You are getting traffic who is interested in buying.
On the webpage ask for a name, e-mail and their most burning question about your target. For instance, you might be interested in producing an e-book about scrap booking for profit. The flycatcher page would tell people you are developing a book about this topic. You want their most burning question about how to make a profit from scrap booking. You will also give the people who leave their name, address and question a fr.ee copy of the e-book.
Seventh, stop the PPC campaign when you have gotten the number and quality of questions you want. Use that information to write your e-book and answer their questions.
You have now used a PPC campaign to define your target market and start your client list!