A payday loan can seem to be a life raft to a drowning person when there is still too much month left after your paycheck is all gone. So you go downtown and drop in at the handy Payday Loan Store.You can get $100.00 right over the counter. On payday you will pay them back $115.00. It appears to be a cheap price to be able to get your hands on a c-note without a lot of paperwork and red tape.But is it really so cheap? Well, you really needed the money and after payday you’ll be out of hock, so who cares…? But just suppose you can’t pay the money back. Your paycheck that wasn’t enough two weeks ago now has to stretch enough to cover that $115.00 loan, too. Where can you turn? There’s only one place…the Payday Loan Store that’s already cost you $15.00.There’s nothing else to do but ask them for another c-note. Now you’ve got to hand them another $15.00 of your hard-earned money. Believe it or not, paying $15.00 every two weeks all year-long for that same $100.00 loan will cost you an interest rate of about 390% APR. THAT’S enough to choke a horse!When a year is up, you’ll be out a grand total of $360.00 for that lousy $100.00 loan that never seems to get repaid. Stuffing all that money into the payday loan company’s pocket has got to hurt you badly.You might become desperate enough one day to take out a $200.00 loan instead of the usual hundred. The Payday Loan Store is thrilled to up the ante. After all, you are a really good customer.The Payday Loan Store knows something you don’t know yet. You are about to get in so deep you won’t be able to dig yourself out again.Before you know it, your life becomes an endless round of robbing Peter to pay Paul. You are so sorry that you ever took that first $100.00 loan. You are really in a pickle. And as you find it harder and harder to keep your head above water, you notice your once friendly payday lender is becoming nasty to you at times. He doesn’t want to hear any stories: he just wants his money.Your life is falling apart. You and your wife are constantly fighting and your kids are miserable. You get a second job. Now you are exhausted, and yet you still can’t make all the money you need. You can’t see a way out.This is a picture of the way in which the payday loan industry can ruin the lives of folks who live from paycheck to paycheck. It’s really tough to make ends meet nowadays. But the very worst thing you can do is to make that first trip to a Payday Loan Store. That is the sure way to total and complete devastation…But there IS a better way. If you already have an internet connection and a computer, you could become an affiliate marketer. You could end your financial worries forever. You could say “Good-bye” to rapacious Payday Loan Stores forever!An affiliate marketer is a person who sells online another person’s product. Let’s say your name is Joe and the person who owns the product is called Bryce. Bryce is selling a software product that he has designed to make internet marketing easier. The product sells for $97.00. Joe reads about this product at the Warrior Forum where everyone is raving about it (and also selling it as affiliates!). Joe decides he will sell it, too. He contacts Bryce and signs up as Bryce”s affiliate. This costs Joe nothing to become Bryce’s affiliate.Joe doesn’t have very much money. Actually, he doesn’t have any money…He is in bad shape. He goes to Blogger.com and he sets up a really nice blog, all for free. He blogs about how great Bryce’s software is and about how much it will help internet marketers.Now he needs traffic to his blog. He can’t afford to buy any traffic, so he decides to write articles about the software. He sets up an account at EzineArticles, which is free. He begins to write articles, at least one every day. At the bottom of each article, he adds his URL so that readers of his articles can find his blog.He has set up a PayPal account (also free!) so he can accept payments. He keeps writing articles about the software and related topics. He is starting to get a little discouraged because he really needs money and nothing seems to be happening in that department..Then one morning he wakes up and checks his email and Lo and Behold! there is an email from PayPal telling him that $50.00 has been added to his account! He can’t believe it! It is the commission from one sale of the software that he has brought about through his articles.And this is the real start of Joe’s new career as an internet marketing affiliate. The merchant will take care of all details having to do with selling and customer care, etc. All Joe has to do is to keep sending traffic to Bryce’s product. Bryce pays a 50% commission, so it is well worth Joe’s time and effort.Soon Joe decides to build a list of folks who have bought products from him. He becomes an affiliate for other products related to the internet marketing field. He keeps writing articles, but now he is beginning to earn lots of money, so he can accelerate his sales by other ways of getting traffic. He builds a big list of warm and willing buyers, from whom he makes even more sales.Before you know it, Joe is very prosperous, his family is happy and comfortable, and those bad old days of having to grovel down at the Payday Loan Store just seems like a bad dream. Or rather, a bad nightmare. Those days are gone forever for Joe!
Payday Loans – What Are the Dangers?
E-commerce Design is Essential For Your Business
Starting a business in this day and age means that you have to make sure that an internet component is included. E-commerce has become the new way for companies to make sure that they are reaching every potential customer and possibility for future business. Therefore, e-commerce design is essential for your business.There are also many companies out there that offer e-commerce services that promise well designed sites and solutions that will attract the greatest number of customers. You should realize, no matter how large or small your company is, that e-commerce design is essential for your business.The process that most design companies will go through is getting to understand your business first so that they can offer the best e-commerce solutions for your particular type of company. It will do you no good if the method of transaction and the ability to buy your products make it a difficult experience for the shopper. Therefore there are a few items you should look for when finalizing the way the site is designed.The site should be simple to navigate. This means that when a potential customer comes to the site they should not have to guess where what they are looking for can be found, there should be clear guides to show anyone around. The home page should offer all of the information that is needed to successfully navigate the product pages and find out where specific products are located. A search feature is very helpful.Someone should also be able to determine quickly if the product they want is available through your site. Say you have a site that caters to audiophiles who know the specs of the latest equipment and who have very detailed criteria. They should be able to search your products quickly without any delays so that they can find what they want and then get on with their lives.The product pages should also offer the consumer tons of information about the products that you have available. This should be the case for every product and not just the best sellers. Remember that you are trying to build a customer base that keeps on coming back to you. Therefore, give them more than enough information on even the smallest products so that when they do need to buy the more expensive items they will remember you. This is one area where you should be able to see that e-commerce design is essential for you business.The shopper has now made their choice and wants to put the items that they have selected into the “shopping cart” so that they can make their purchase. This process should be the easiest yet. If the buyer gets bogged down with more ads and a difficult checkout they may go somewhere else. Your main goal should be to keep them on your site only as long as they need to be there to buy what they want. After that they should be able to leave smoothly.Making money is the main part for you. You should be concerned with the customer experience because it means more green in your pocket. E-commerce design is essential for your business because it will put you one step ahead of the slacker competition.
The Pros And Cons Of Prepaid Credit Cards
Observers in the lending industry have estimated that there may be at least 50 million Americans who are not able to qualify for credit. These consumers are usually young, often members of the minority groups and unbanked…and they are faced with the long-standing dilemma of credit: how can I build my credit record if no one will give me any credit at all?One of the answers offered by credit card companies is a variety of prepaid credit cards, designed for use by specific segments in the market. The prepaid credit cards are meant for that significant portion of the population that cannot meet the qualification criteria for regular credit cards, or who qualified before but have since lost their credit due to repeated defaults and other reasons.Advantages of Prepaid Credit Cards For those who do not have enough credit history or have had it blemished, prepaid credit cards are an effective way to build or slowly rebuild credit. That may not happen immediately, but it is something to work on over time. The banks that issue prepaid credit cards are also prepared to extend normal credit the moment you are able to show that you have become a worthy credit risk.For the moment, you may have to make do with prepaid credit cards. You can use prepaid credit cards as you would any other regular credit card to purchase airline tickets, reserve hotel rooms, or order items online.Prepaid Credit Card for Students There is a special prepaid Visa credit card for students, which offers a lot of convenience not only for the students but also for their parents. These reloadable prepaid credit cards offer parents several options on how to reload. Parents can add money to reloadable prepaid credit cards by depositing money, by arranging an automatic transfer of funds from their account (a deposit account or their own credit card account), or by online transfer. Using the prepaid Visa credit card is no different from giving the regular allowance to their child, only they do so by electronic means and there is no more cash that changes hands.The big advantage of the prepaid Visa credit card is that the student is limited to spend only as much money as there is in the card. The parent is thus able to control to some extent the spending behavior of their child. They can use the prepaid credit card anywhere that the credit card brand is accepted.Prepaid Credit Cards as Gift Certificates Some prepaid credit cards function like gift certificates. You buy the prepaid credit card for a certain amount, and your recipient can purchase items with it at any of the brick-and-mortar stores or online merchants, and also for mail order items, that accept the particular credit card brand. Your recipient can use the prepaid credit card only up to the amount of money that you loaded on it. This particular version of prepaid credit cards is non-reloadable.Like any gift certificate, recipients of prepaid credit cards can buy whatever it is they want at any time they want. Unlike a gift certificate that, when it gets lost is lost forever to the recipient, prepaid credit cards may be replaced if it gets lost or is stolen.Prepaid Credit Cards for Travel There is a prepaid credit card designed for travel. These reloadable prepaid credit cards can be purchased in lieu of travelers’ checks or cash. In a way, it combines the best features of a credit card and a traveler’s check because of its convenience and security features. Should you lose the prepaid credit card while you are on travel, you can easily obtain an emergency replacement, both for the prepaid credit card and some cash.Prepaid credit cards for travel are accepted all over the world, and also allow you to obtain currency from ATM machines. When you need to reload and you are already traveling you can arrange for the reload by phone or online. Apart from the fact that it is a prepaid credit card, you can use it exactly like a regular credit card. That also means you enjoy other benefits just like a regular card — reimbursements for lost luggage of up to $1,000 per cardholder if your luggage is lost; zero liability if your prepaid credit card is used fraudulently after you lose it or have it stolen from you; purchase security up to $500 per claim for any items you buy with prepaid credit cards, which subsequently gets stolen or damaged for certain reasons.Generally, you can purchase prepaid credit cards of all the major credit card brands at their participating retailers. You don’t have to worry about not having acceptable credit because prepaid credit cards are made available without need of a credit report or a bank account. The only qualifications you need to have are that you have reached 18 years of age and that you must be able to present a valid identification issued by government.Disadvantages of Prepaid Credit Cards There are a few things about prepaid credit cards that may not be as convenient as the regular credit cards. For one thing, you load only so much money onto it. You will need to keep track of the balance on the prepaid credit card because not all of the merchant terminals where you use the card may be able to help you determine it. However, there are procedures that tell you how to determine your balance, and you will these detailed on the back of the prepaid credit card and in the instructions accompanying it.The process of reloading your prepaid credit card may be a little inconvenient to some. If you’re using cash, you would have to visit the participating outlet where you bought your reloadable prepaid credit cards. The more convenient way will be reloading online.There are also the charges. Prepaid credit cards impose an application fee, the amount of which varies with the issuer, and there is also a service charge that you have to pay monthly. You also have to pay for transaction fees, charges when you transfer funds to top up the balance, when you replace your prepaid credit card, and many other fees. To be sure about the fees, you should read closely the fine print on the prepaid credit card account.Prospects of Prepaid Credit Cards Prepaid credit cards do not provide credit; it is your money that you’re using. You are asked to pay other charges, so it is not for free. You are paying for the convenience and security of carrying plastic instead of large amounts of cash. People with bad credit will be able to act as if they had a regular credit card and enjoy the convenience of one.Issuers of prepaid credit cards realize that it is a good way to monitor the credit behavior of the cardholder. A prepaid credit card would be a source of information that indicates to the credit bureaus and issuing lenders about how you as the individual cardholder use the card to pay your bills such as utilities. If these consumer data could be formatted in such a way as to provide the basis for a statistical model on probable future behavior in spending, then this could become the foundation for building a credit history.You would benefit, because by using prepaid credit cards you are rebuilding your credit. The prepaid credit card issuers would benefit, too, because they would be making previously unproven customers bankable. More people could then qualify for regular credit, and that would mean tremendous incremental revenue for the lenders.